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ERIC Number: EJ692142
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Jun
Pages: 23
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0360-1277
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Intergenerational Contact, Attitudes, and Stereotypes of Adolescents and Older People
Meshel, David; Mcglynn, Richard
Educational Gerontology, v30 n6 p457-479 Jun-Jul 2004
Contradictory findings characterize the literature on the efficacy of intergenerational programs that bring children and older persons together for joint activities to promote more positive attitudes and stereotypes. Nor is it clear whether cross-generational attitudes are negative to begin with. The research reported in this paper operationalized the constructs of attitudes and stereotypes by employing ideographic measures based on the attitude model of Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) and adopted the principles of the contact hypothesis in organizing a cross-age program. Sixty-three middle school adolescents (age 11?13) were randomly assigned to cross-age contact, didactic instruction, or control conditions for a 6-week program. Overall, adolescents and older persons held generally positive attitudes and stereotypes of each other. Relative to the control group, the contact group adolescents attitudes toward older people became more positive. There was no change in the didactic group. Following contact, the older people showed more positive attitudes toward younger people and scored higher on a measure of life satisfaction.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A