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Three major theories have been proposed to explain the structure of older people’s support networks: Cantor’s hierarchical-compensatory model, Litwak’s structural-functionalist model and Antonucci’s convoy model. This paper uses a representative survey of 60-90-year-old Swedes (n=1225) to discuss the insights of these models. Questions were asked about the preferred source for companionate, emotional and practical support. XCHAID-analyses were used to model respondents’ preferences depending on personal characteristics. Consistent with the hierarchical-compensatory model, results showed an intimate partner to be the preferred primary source for support over the full range of analyzed support forms. This was true not only for long-term, but also for new intimate relationships – new partners could be added to support convoys also late in life. For those who did not have an intimate partner, there was clear evidence in favor of Litwak’s idea of functional specialization. Preferences for support-source were found to be independent of union form.
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