Download or read book Social Patterns in Normal Aging written by Erdman Ballagh Palmore and published by Durham, N.C. : Duke University Press. This book was released on 1981 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Erdman Palmore has written a comprehensive, systematic summary of all extant findings on social patterns in normal aging learned from the landmark Duke Longitudinal Studies in aging. Palmore discusses the implications of these findings for major issues in gerontology and answers such questions as: Do elderly people reduce their social activity? Do they come to resemble one another or become more different as they age? Do major events in later life produce stress resulting in physical and/or mental illnesses? Does sexual activity maintain or reduce life satisfaction and longevity? Palmore's conclusions challenge many current ideas and prejudices widely held about people over the age of 65.