Effects of Age and Relation on Intergenerational Communication: A Survey Study in Beijing

X.D. Yue & S.H. Ng
pp. 102-113.

Abstract

This study examined how age and relation might affect intergenerational communication among a sample of 90 young people (aged between 18-22) and 77 older people (age 60 and above) in Beijing. The results provided limited support for a hypothesised age and relation effect on how the participants reflected on their conversational experiences with people of different ages and familial relations to them. For the young participants, parents demonstrated most accommodative behaviours while family elders demonstrated the least. For the older participants, adult children (and spouses) were most accommodative while non-family youths were least accommodative. Participants’ positive politeness behaviours were significantly correlated with their communication partners’ accommodative and non-accommodative behaviours to them respectively. The paper concludes by addressing the methodological implications of the present study on further studies on the issue.

Key words: intergenerational communication, Chinese society