Asian Indian Americans are a highly successful subset of Asian Americans. According to a 2012 Pew Center report, this population has the highest level of degree attainment among Asian Americans as well as the highest median income among Asian Americans ("The Rise of Asian Americans," 2012). However, there is a cloak of invisibility surrounding this population. There is little research on how second-generation Asian Indian Americans navigate the expectations of academic excellence and cultural adherence in their relationships with their first-generation parents. There is limited knowledge and understanding of this population that is burdened by family expectations, community expectations, institutional expectations, and their own self-expectations of academic excellence. The paucity of research on this population creates the invisible minority where students’ needs may be ignored based on unfounded assumptions on part of the community and the institution. This phenomenological study adds to the sparse literature on Asian Indian Americans by exploring the intergenerational relationships of Asian Indian American undergraduate students in a narrowly focused area of academic choices and academic performance. This study examined students’ perceptions of the communication between first-generation parents and second-generation children who are currently enrolled at Southern State University. Further, this study examined the stress generated by the intergenerational relationships and the coping strategies employed by the students for dealing with the aforementioned stress. Findings from this study indicate that first-generation parents stress academic excellence and enrollment in certain majors based on their own experiences as new immigrants as well as to uphold the honor and prestige of the family. While the expectations of academic excellence from parents create stress for the students, the students remain grateful to their parents for instilling such values in them. However, the findings reveal that students felt stress from the expectation of excellence from the community, family, and institution to perform well. The findings of varying levels of intergenerational issues suggest that the parent-child relationships in this population were complex and non-linear. / text

This dissertation explores the relationship between intergenerational dynamics and politics outcomes in several distinct contexts. It is motivated by the remarkable demographic shifts exhibited by people in advanced countries over the past several decades. Individuals on average have longer lives and fewer children than ever before. Combining these shifts with the large intergenerational public policies that exist in many such states (education, old-age social welfare, healthcare) provokes several distinct yet related research questions addressed in the chapters below. First, do political traits matter for fertility behavior? If so, could the presence of differential fertility behavior across political groups lead to a shift in the position of the future median voter? Second, what are other significant determinants of fertility in contemporary Europe and the United States? Does more recent data support the findings of established “determinants of fertility” models? Finally, does the relationship between age and Social Security benefit preferences (and confidence in the Social Security system) seem to suggest the potential for intergenerational conflict over Social Security? The chapters below tie together disparate bodies of literature from multiple academic disciplines and use empirical evidence to answer these research questions. The results suggest political traits are significant determinants of fertility in some cases. The results also demonstrate that the relationship between wealth/education and fertility in many European states is positive – in contrast to much of the literature on this relationship and the common wisdom. Finally, the last empirical chapter illustrates the existence of potential age-based political conflict over Social Security in the United States.

El principal objetivo de este estudio es cuantificar y examinar la movilidad intergeneracional del ingreso en la Argentina, explorando la hipótesis de variación del grado de (in)movilidad a lo largo de la distribución del ingreso correspondiente a los hijos así como a los padres, a través de la aplicación de métodos econométricos utilizados en la literatura empírica reciente para datos no longitudinales. Los resultados, obtenidos a partir de la información proveniente de dos muestras de la Encuesta Permanente de Hogares de 1986 y 2006, sugieren que el ingreso laboral de los padres está correlacionado más fuertemente con el ingreso de las hijas que con el de los hijos varones. Asimismo, se observa que la persistencia intergeneracional varía a lo largo de la distribución del ingreso laboral de los hijos y de los padres. En general, el efecto del ingreso laboral del padre y de la madre es mayor para los hijos que se encuentran en los cuantiles más bajos. Por otra parte, las elasticidades intergeneracionales del ingreso estimadas en cada cuantil de los hijos, para diferentes tramos de la distribución del ingreso laboral de los padres, son considerablemente distintas. En síntesis, los resultados revelan la existencia de significativas no linealidades en la relación intergeneracional del ingreso laboral. / The principal aim of this paper is quantify and examine intergenerational earnings mobility in Argentina, exploring particularly the hypothesis of variation of the degree of intergenerational (in)mobility across childs´s and parents’s income distribution, by the implementation of econometrics methods utilized in recent empirical literature for nonlongitudinal data. The results derived from the information of two samples from the Permanent Household Survey of 1986 and 2006 suggest that parents´s earnings correlate more strongly with daughter´s earnings than they do with that of a son. Also, intergenerational persistence varies across childs´s and parents’s income distribution. In general, the effect of father´s and mother´s earning is higher for childrens in the lower income quantiles. Moreover, the intergenerational income elasticities in every quantil of the childs, for different sections of parents's income distribution, are considerably distinct. In synthesis, the results uncover the existence of significant nonlinearities in the intergenerational earnings relationship.

The Canadian population is aging, as is the Canadian workforce. Today, four generations find themselves cohabiting in the workforce together. This may have an impact on workplace collaboration and communication, as both of these processes are influenced by group perceptions. Academic research has focused upon workplace interactions mainly from a younger worker’s perspective; hence, the older worker’s voice has been overlooked. The objective of this study is thereby from an older worker’s perspective, to understand how generations perceive each other in the workplace, and further, understand how these perceptions influence intergenerational communication and collaboration. To do so, we have relied upon Communication Accommodation Theory and Social Identity Theory, and have conducted a survey to measure the influence of ageist stereotypes on communication and its accommodation, in addition to such influences on knowledge transfer. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 260-274)

The Canadian population is aging, as is the Canadian workforce. Today, four generations find themselves cohabiting in the workforce together. This may have an impact on workplace collaboration and communication, as both of these processes are influenced by group perceptions. Academic research has focused upon workplace interactions mainly from a younger worker’s perspective; hence, the older worker’s voice has been overlooked. The objective of this study is thereby from an older worker’s perspective, to understand how generations perceive each other in the workplace, and further, understand how these perceptions influence intergenerational communication and collaboration. To do so, we have relied upon Communication Accommodation Theory and Social Identity Theory, and have conducted a survey to measure the influence of ageist stereotypes on communication and its accommodation, in addition to such influences on knowledge transfer. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

This thesis deals with the emotional dimension of intergenerational solidarity in elderly care. Caring for an aging family member is a difficult life situations for a caring person but also for the elderly. How they cope with the situation, largely depends on the quality of their relationship. The paper presents the theories related to emotional solidarity in elderly care, mainly the theory of V.L. Bengtson, on which is based the research and presents also contemporary Czech and foreign studies on this topic. Quantitative methods used in the paper are based on data from research of prof. Hynek Jerabek et al. "Family Cohesion 2010" and analyzes the mutual relationship between the one who cares and elderly family member who need help. To find the factors that affect relationships, is used linear regression analysis factors are currently being compared to the situation of home care and for care with help of the institutions. The conclusions of the analysis confirm the assumption that emotional solidarity is most often provided kind of help. Emotional relationships between caring persons and the elderly are characterized by relatively high degree of reciprocity, which increases when they are caring of their own mother, and if they had harmonic emotional relationships with senior in the past. The...

Актуальность диссертационной работы заключается в необходимости изучения взаимосвязи между технологиями коммуникации среди поколений в семье и снижением социальных девиаций в молодежной среде. Изучены теоретические основания исследования межпоколенческих коммуникаций и социальных девиаций. Разработаны технологии межпоколенческой коммуникации, предложена их классификация по трем основаниям и описаны три актуальные технологии. В ходе социологического опроса выявлено наличие проблем во взаимоотношениях между поколениями в семье, связанных с непониманием друг друга. Для решения выявленных проблем разработан проект, в рамках которого укрепляются взаимоотношения между поколениями в семье, проводятся междисциплинарные мероприятия для специалистов сферы превентологии. / The relevance of the dissertation work lies in the need to study the relationship between communication technologies among generations in the family and the reduction of social deviations in the youth environment. The theoretical foundations of the study of intergenerational communications and social deviations are studied. Technologies of intergenerational communication have been developed, their classification on three grounds has been proposed, and three current technologies have been described. During the sociological survey, the presence of problems in the relationship between generations in the family associated with misunderstanding of each other was revealed. To solve the identified problems, a project has been developed within the framework of which relationships between generations in the family are strengthened, interdisciplinary events are held for specialists in the field of preventology.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Karen Myers-Bowman / Due to health conditions, the average 70 year old will outlive the ability to drive by 6 years for men and 10 years for women (Foley et al., 2002). Driving loss has a significantly negative impact on the quality of life of an older adult. For this reason, some continue to drive despite concerns about safety. Midlife family members of older adults often feel social pressure to intervene in driving decision-making and social pressure to refrain from intervening. The goal of this study was to understand the experiences of midlife family members from the time that someone first noticed a concern with the older relative’s driving until the time the older adult stopped driving. A qualitative, multiple embedded case study approach was used to gather information from two midlife family members from 7 families with an older driver who had recently retired from driving. The family processes that influenced communication about driving and choice of strategies for intervening were examined. Findings indicated that the midlife family members became aware of safety issues at different times. Awareness prompted conversations with other relatives, and the majority of family conversations about driving did not include the older adult. Many family members reported a respect for the autonomy of the older relative and a reluctance to initiate conversations without permission from the older adult to do so. Intervention strategies reported by participants included (1) wait and worry, (2) nudging, (3) attempted conversation, (4) ending requests for driving assistance, (5) requesting assistance from physicians, (6) requesting assistance from the DMV, (7) requesting assistance from law enforcement, and (8) accepting the inability to end an older adult’s driving career. Participants reported many factors that both helped and hindered efforts to encourage driving retirement. Based on these findings, an Ecological Model of Later-Life Decision-Making was proposed. The model reflects that the participants’ efforts to encourage driving retirement were not simply a matter of intra-family communication, but were influenced by processes occurring at multiple levels, both within and outside of the family. Processes occurring at multiple levels both helped and hindered family members’ efforts to encourage driving retirement.

A broader research project was conducted about intergenerational relationships. The focus of this study was about adolescents’ experiences of care in relationships with people older than 60 years, who live in an environment where resources are constrained. Care usually occurs in relationships and can take either the form of practical care or emotional care, or both which can occur simultaneously. Practical care involves behaviours, while emotional care involves feelings. Both are aimed at attending to other people’s needs. Previous studies on intergenerational relationships and care largely focused on either informal and practical care-giving, which are mainly provided by adult children to older people; or on the informal and practical care-giving provided by grandparents to grandchildren. Research on relational experiences between Setswana-speaking older people and young adults in South Africa has indicated ambivalence in their relationships. While another South African study on the relational experiences between Setswana-speaking older people and their grandchildren, who are in their middle childhood, reported supportive and caring relationships. Limited research exists about care in the relationships between adolescents and older people. Care as a relational phenomenon in intergenerational relationships is explained by the Self-Interactional Group Theory (SIGT), and is used in this study as the theoretical framework. SIGT explains the interactional manifestation of intergenerational relations, and conceptualises that intergenerational relationships are continuously created and co-created, which influences the meaning that is attached to care. This theory further explains the intra-individual, inter-individual and group level interactions that take place between the adolescents and older people. According to SIGT, intergenerational interactions are embedded in the socio-cultural, socio-economical, socio-political and the physical environments in which they take place. This study was conducted in Vaalharts, situated in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. This community is economically vulnerable and resources are constrained. A qualitative research method was used to describe adolescents’ experiences of care. Fourteen adolescents between the ages of 12 and 16 years participated in the research. Non-probability, purposive sampling was used to select the participants. The participants took part in the Mmogo-method ®, which is a visual participatory data gathering method, to elicit the experiences of care. Eight of the participants were part of the care-group, while the other six were part of the respect-group. All 14 participants received a journal with questions about care and respect to enlighten the data further. For this study, only the data about care was used. The Mmogo-method ® required the participants to build a visual presentation using clay, beads and sticks, about their experiences of care in relation to people older than 60 years. On completion, the rest of the participants were then asked to augment the individual’s explanation with their own views. The explanations were recorded and transcribed verbatim, while the visual representations were photographed and served as visual data. The data were analysed by the use of thematic and visual analysis. Trustworthiness was ensured by the use of credibility, dependability, transferability and conformability strategies. Additionally, the ethical guidelines provided by the Health Professions Council of South Africa for Psychologists were followed (Health Professions Act 56 of 1974). It was found that the adolescents were able to identify older people’s practical care and emotional care needs, and take action to provide them with appropriate care. The adolescents showed care in the form of practical activities, emotional support, showing respect, and obtaining an education. Findings further indicated that adolescents received care only in the form of practical care. These findings may be an indication that, from the adolescents’ perspective, there is an imbalance between the giving and receiving of practical and emotional care. Intervention programs can then focus on ways to help ensure that both practical and emotional care occurs in a more balanced manner. / MSc (Research Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015