There are clear gains for all in society when older and younger people are able to mix together as equals and become aware of their similarities rather than differences.
That’s the verdict of a new review of evidence on intergenerational contact, carried out by psychologists at the University and launched on 12 July by Age UK.
The authors conclude that, as well as reducing ageism, evidence indicates that realising the benefits of well-designed intergenerational contact should be incorporated into policy in many areas including business and employment, health and social care and education.
Direct, face-to-face contact can take place through everyday interactions between members of the public, within families, between co-workers or through intergenerational friendships.
The report, entitled Making Intergenerational Connections, says there are benefits from contact between different age groups both in direct and indirect forms. The advantages are greatest when contact is in the form of friendships.
Among young people, those with intergenerational friendships are likely to hold more positive attitudes towards older adults, to have a more positive attitude toward provision of health and care for older people, and greater interest in studying ageing. Even having just one older friend is enough to decrease negative stereotypes of older adults, the review finds.
The authors also say that even less personal regular contact ‘helps to control young people’s overt and more subtle ageist stereotypes and attitudes’. But it is the ‘positive quality of everyday contact’ that matters more than its frequency, they suggest. This works by reducing young people’s worries about interacting with older adults and their anxiety about their own ageing.
For those at work, intergenerational contact between co-workers improves young people’s attitudes towards older co-workers and older adults more widely. It is also linked to better outcomes for organisations such as increasing younger workers’ commitment to remain with the organisation.
There are also positive effects on young people’s attitudes even when intergenerational contact happens indirectly, by being aware of an own-age friend’s intergenerational contact experiences, or by being asked to imagine themselves having a friendly intergenerational contact encounter.
The report suggests that future intergenerational contact research should consider implications for different sets of older adults. It points out that workers are sometimes categorised as ‘older’ from age 50 upward, while ‘older’ hospital patients may be nearer to 80 or 90 years old. The authors also note that research should additionally consider attitudes toward and held by middle-aged adults, ‘who are largely missing from the literature’.
The report was written by Lisbeth Drury, Professor Dominic Abrams and Dr Hannah J. Swift at the Centre for the Study of Group Processes within the School of Psychology. It was supported by grants to the authors from Age UK, the Economic and Social Research Council, and from the European Commission.