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The joy of intimability: Forms of intimacy and relationships among older couple-dancing adults
Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (starting 2013), Department of Social and Psychological Studies (from 2013).ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5521-1209
Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (starting 2013), Department of Social and Psychological Studies (from 2013). Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (starting 2013), Centre for Gender Studies (from 2013).ORCID iD: 0000-0003-1067-3906
2026 (English)In: Acta Sociologica, ISSN 0001-6993, E-ISSN 1502-3869Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

Recent academic debates on intimacy emphasise that intimacy needs to be reconceptualised beyond long-term relationships. This study contributes to such reconceptualisation by coining the term intimability and exploring its implications based on interviews with 29 older people about couple dancing in Sweden. We show that older dancers find great pleasure in dancing with others but carefully avoid overt sexual signals or forming obligations outside the dance, such as long-term relationships. We model intimability on Simmel's concept sociability in order to capture how human beings enjoy being intimate and therefore arrange intimacy for its own sake. The concept draws attention to the temporary character of intimacy in dancing and the avoidance of sexual signals or forming obligations beyond the dance context. Similarly to how Simmel wrote about sociability, intimability becomes a world unto itself, and the links to other spheres of life are modulated to sustain the sense of temporary and non-obligational intimacy. We demonstrate how contextual factors are at play to sustain intimability, including the way communities are formed around dance activities and how existing long-term relationships are handled. Although this article examines couple dancing, we propose that the concept intimability can be applied beyond this specific context.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2026.
Keywords [en]
Intimacy, intimability, sociability, dancing, ageing
National Category
Social Work Sociology
Research subject
Sociology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-110364DOI: 10.1177/00016993261448805ISI: 001771535800001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105039471196OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kau-110364DiVA, id: diva2:2065180
Available from: 2026-06-03 Created: 2026-06-03 Last updated: 2026-06-08Bibliographically approved

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Heikkinen, SatuHenriksson, Andreas

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1213141516171815 of 39
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