Date of Award
Program or Major
Master of Arts
Heather A Turner
As the Baby Boomers begin to retire in 2011 and federal monies become more strained, it will be useful to determine whether there are actual divisions or points of agreement between grandparents and grandchildren in regards to value differences. Cross-sectional data from the Longitudinal Study of Generations are used to examine the differences in perceptions of intergenerational responsibility and a generation gap between grandparents and grandchildren. Variations in these potential differences as a function of grandparent-grandchild contact and caregiving are also examined. Findings indicate grandparents perceived more responsibility toward younger generations while grandchildren perceive more responsibility toward older generations; grandparents also perceived a smaller generation gap than did their grandchildren. Grandparents' perceptions of intergenerational responsibility were influenced by their level of education and geographic proximity to their grandchildren, when all other factors were controlled; grandfathers perceive a larger generation gap than do grandmothers. No consistent predictors of grandchild perceptions were found.
Stransky, Michelle L., "Perceptions of a generation gap by contact and perceptions of intergenerational responsibility" (2007). Master's Theses and Capstones. 66.