It's not so much what you do for older folks in the family that makes them happy. It's more what you don't do.
Typically, older adults receive more social support from those around them as they age. And that, conventional wisdom holds, makes them feel good; after all, it's a form of repayment and a sign they're held in high esteem. It also helps them function.
But that's not the way it really works, finds Neal Krause, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan. Older folks are happiest when there is an absence of negativity in their interactions--no matter how much support they get.
As people age, their social network consists more and more of family members, explains Krause, who interviewed over 900 household residents 65 years and older. And the interactions in question are more likely to involve their kin.
