[Change in East Germany intergenerational relations in a large city. Results of the 4th survey phase of the Halle Longitudinal Study of participants of the 1994 senior college (HALSEKO)].

The fourth survey by standardized questionnaire in November 1994 (response rate: 71.6%, n = 308, mean age: 68.1 years) to identify effects of the changes in the eastern German cultural and social scene among senior students enrolled at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg since 1989 (HALSEKO) revealed a distinct deterioration in intergenerational relations which has been interpreted in terms of Mead's theoretical conception of the induction of intergenerational conflict by the abrupt change in cultural values in the new Federal states. Negative assessment were given by 69.5% (1992: 33.4%). Statistical analysis by bivariant contingency tables yielded an assessment pattern with two dimensions. These consisted personal discrimination by younger people and changes in intrafamilial intergenerational relations owing to fewer contacts, stress due to the job situation for children and grandchildren, tension within the family and anxiety at the thought of loneliness. The latter causes have a hurtfull effect. The list of possible causes for the deterioration in intergenerational relations that formed part of the questionnaire showed that most subjects considered unemployment (71.3%) and changes in interpersonal contact (71.1%) to be responsible, the latter being described as a situation in which people do not have time for each other. In view of the importance of social relations for the well-being of the elderly, relations between the generations should remain on the agenda as a subject for further research and preventive conceptions.