Intergenerational Communication Across the Life Span PDF
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Intergenerational Communication Across the Life Span LEA'S COMMUNICATION SERIES Jennings Bryant/Dolf Zillmann, General Editors Selected titles in Applied Communications (Teresa L. Thompson, Advisory Editor) include: Beck/Ragan/du Pre • Partnership for Health: Building Relation- ships Between Women and Health Caregivers Braithwaite/Thompson • Handbook of Communication and People With Disabilities: Research and Application Hummert/Nussbaum • Aging, Communication, and Health: Linking Research and Practice for Successful Aging Nussbaum/Coupland • Handbook of Communication and Aging Research Nussbaum/Pecchioni/Robinson/Thompson • Communication and Aging, Second Edition Ray/Donohew • Communication and Health: Systems and Applications Socha/Diggs • Communication, Race, and Family: Exploring Communication in Black, White, and Biracial Families For a complete list of titles in LEA's Communication Series, please contact Lawrence Eribaum Associates, Publishers. Intergenerational Communication Across the Life Span Angle Williams Cardiff University, Wales Jon F. ftussbaum The Pennsylvania State University LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS 2001 Mahwah, New Jersey London Copyright © 2001 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microfilm, retrieval system, or any other means, without prior written permission of the publisher. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers 10 Industrial Avenue Mahwah, NJ 07430 Cover design by Kathryn Houghtaling Lacey Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Williams, Angie. Intergenerational communication across the life span / Angie Williams, Jon F. Nussbaum. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8058-2248-8 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 0-8058-2249-6 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Intergenerational communication. 2. Intergenerational relations. 3. Communication in the family. 4. Conflict of generations. I. Nussbaum, Jon F. II. Title. HM726.W56 2000 306.87—dc21 99-056785 CIP Books published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates are printed on acid-free paper, and their bindings are chosen for strength and durability. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 32 To Debra, Alan, June, and John This page intentionally left blank Contents Introduction ix Acknowledgments xv Part I: Social, Psychological, 1 and Developmental Foundations 1 Theoretical Foundations for the Study 3 of Intergenerational Communication 2 Intergenerational Contexts and Contact 26 3 Social Cognitive Contributions: Intergenerational 46 Attitudes and Stereotypes 4- Language, Cognition, and Age 65 5 Intergenerational Language Strategies: 85 Underaccommodation vii viii CONTENTS 6) Intergenerational Language Strategies: 108 Overaccommodation 7 Generational Identity and Age Identity 127 Part II: Intergenerational 149 Relationship Communication 8 Adult Child-Elderly Parent Relationship 151 9 The Grandparent-Grandchild Relationship 168 10 Sandwiched Communication 184 11 Intergenerational Relationships Beyond the Family 200 Part III: Macrosocietal Perspectives 223 12 Intergenerational Conflict 225 13 Societal, Political, Public Policy Issues, and 244 Intergenerational Communication 14- Cultural Perspectives on Intergenerational 262 Communication Epilogue 284 References 299 Author Index 327 Subject Index 337 Introduction Effective communication is considered by many to be the number one prob- lem in, and the number one solution for, numerous aspects of our lives. If we only communicated better, wars would not occur, lawsuits would be avoided, and all of our relationships would be more satisfying and more suc- cessful. What a wonderful world it would be if we could all communicate ef- fectively. Sentiments such as these are accepted with so little criticism that we never question the assumption that effective communication is not diffi- cult if people are given the right information and training. One simply needs to watch television or to enter any bookstore to see hundreds of self-help manuals and other examples of how to accomplish effective communica- tion. The ordained wisdom of our popular culture reassures us that if we come to understand our innate bias toward behaving like true men or true women, or if we learn a few basic dating rules and behave accordingly, all our relationships will become manageable while we achieve our relational goals, and ultimately, true happiness. These popular and rather rudimen- tary analyses of competent communication simplify the process of effective communication and completely ignore the fact that years of academic study of these issues point us away from such simplistic solutions. N. Coupland, Giles, and Wiemann (1991) reiterated this position in their theoretical ex- amination of miscommunication. These authors pointed out that commu- nication is, by its very nature, ambiguous, imprecise, and inherently flawed. Furthermore, communicators are strategic and often less than honest, di- rect, clear, and so forth. Sometimes miscommunication itself may be the goal, at other times interactants in a conversation may not care whether they have communicated effectively or have achieved harmony because each has an entirely different agenda. Of particular interest to us is intergenerational communication, which according to recent research, has rich potential for misunderstanding and ix
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