ABSTRACT
According to the National Institute on Aging (Global Aging, 1996), the proportion of adults over age 65 is growing in many nations, such that the older population in most countries is growing faster than the population as a whole. This demographic shift necessitates better understanding of older populations and communication across generations. At the same time that the world is growing older, it is also often maintained that the world is getting smaller. As the opportunity for contact with people from other cultures increases, it becomes more important to understand cultural influences on intergenerational relationships and communication. This chapter describes an ongoing program of research that approaches intergenerational communication from an intergroup perspective. In addition, our program examines how relations between age groups are related to subjective health. Moreover, it looks at these issues in light of the cultural context in which the intergenerational relations take place, illustrating cross-cultural similarities and differences with some recent data from Hong Kong and Australia.
