Doing intergenerational friendship: Challenging the dominance of age homophily in friendship

Abstract

This article challenges the dominance of age homophily in the literature on friendship. Using findings from a recent study on intergenerational friendship, we put forward a new conceptualisation of a homophily of doing-and-being in friendships between people who are of different generations. This research took a qualitative approach using Constructivist Grounded Theory methodology. Homophily of doing-and-being has three components: being ‘friends in action’ (pursuing interests and leisure activities, or simply spending time together); being ‘not only old’ (sharing identities beyond age); and sharing attitudes and approaches to friendship and life. Additionally, ‘differences’ were perceived as being an important element of interest between the intergenerational friends. Our discovery of the centrality of doing-and-being, and the relative insignificance of age homophily constitute a novel way of looking at friendship, and a new way of conceptualising how and why (older) adults make and maintain friendships.