This paper reports on a study of the effect of aging on various kinds of social participation and the relationship between the level of participation of older adults (age 50 through 69) and their earlier participation. The data collected during interviews with 1,500 adults of Nebraska in 1961-62 were used. Seven participation variables such as church activity, number of voluntary associations, and time spent reading magazines, were employed. Findings utilized respondents' own estimations of how active they were at the time of the interview as compared with five years earlier. The relationships among age, change in life circumstances (residence change, widowhood, retirement, and job change), and selected types of participation were examined. Degree of social participation was correlated positively with socioeconomic status and not significantly with community size, except in very small towns. Conclusions were that social activity characteristics of older persons are identical with the characteristics of active persons in younger age categories and that generally how active one is depends upon individual subjective factors as well as upon status within the life cycle. (rt)