Intergenerational Communication Beliefs Across the Lifespan: Comparative Data from India

This article examines U.S. American and East Indian young adults' perceptions of intergenerational communication. Irrespective of culture, as age of target increased, so did attributions of benevolence, norms of politeness and deference, and communicative respect and avoidance; conversely, attributions of personal vitality and communication satisfaction decreased linearly. Young adults' avoidant communication with older people negatively predicted their communication satisfaction. In India, age stereotypes and politeness norms predicted communication satisfaction. The less young Indians felt a need to be polite to older people and the more they perceived them as benevolent and active, the more communication satisfaction they reported with elders.