Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, China.
Laboratory of Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
BMC Psychol. 2023 Sep 26;11(1):289. doi: 10.1186/s40359-023-01344-7.
Given the dramatic rise in population aging and widespread negative attitudes toward older people, it is necessary to understand the factors that affect age-related attitudes among young people in order to improve intergenerational solidarity and reduce ageism. The current study examined young people's contact with their grandparents and attitudes toward older people on both explicit and implicit levels.
The sample included 146 Chinese college students (M = 21.50 yrs, SD = 2.23, 101 females). Participants completed a questionnaire concerning contact with their grandparents(contact quantity and contact quality), perceived typicality of their grandparents, intergroup anxiety, inclusion of other in the self, and explicit attitudes toward older people (aged 65 years or older) in general. Participants were also invited to complete a single-category implicit association test (SC-IAT) to assess their implicit attitudes toward older people.
The findings indicated that both quantity and quality of contact with grandparents predicted better explicit attitudes toward older people, and contact effects were stronger when one's grandparents were perceived as being typical of older adults. Contact quantity (not quality) was associated with more favorable implicit attitudes only when one's grandparents were perceived as highly typical older adults. Contact effects on explicit attitudes were mediated by intergroup anxiety and inclusion of other in the self.
Our findings on the positive effects of contact with grandparents underscore the importance of promoting intergenerational contact within the family as a starting point to reduce prejudice toward older adults in age-segregated modern societies. Current results also provide insights on how to extend the benefits of grandparent-grandchild contact outside the family by promoting the perceived typicality of one's grandparents.
鉴于人口老龄化的急剧增长和普遍存在的对老年人的负面态度，有必要了解影响年轻人与年龄相关态度的因素，以改善代际团结，减少年龄歧视。本研究考察了年轻人与祖父母的接触以及他们在明确和隐含层面上对老年人的态度。
该样本包括 146 名中国大学生（M=21.50 岁，SD=2.23，101 名女性）。参与者完成了一份关于与他们的祖父母接触的问卷（接触的数量和质量）、他们的祖父母的典型性感知、群体间焦虑、自我包容和对老年人（65 岁或以上）的明确态度。参与者还被邀请完成一个单一类别内隐联想测验（SC-IAT）来评估他们对老年人的内隐态度。
研究结果表明，与祖父母的接触数量和质量都预测了对老年人的明确态度更好，当一个人的祖父母被认为是老年人的典型代表时，接触的效果更强。只有当一个人的祖父母被认为是高度典型的老年人时，接触数量（而不是质量）才与更有利的内隐态度相关。接触对明确态度的影响通过群体间焦虑和自我包容来中介。
我们关于与祖父母接触的积极影响的发现强调了在家庭中促进代际接触的重要性，这是减少在年龄隔离的现代社会中对老年人偏见的起点。当前的结果还提供了关于如何通过促进对自己的祖父母的典型性感知，将祖孙接触的好处扩展到家庭之外的见解。
