Can Synchronized Activities Promote Positive Sentiments of the Young Toward the Old?
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Kim, Sarah A. Young
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Abstract
Studies have shown that the younger generation’s general view of older adults is often negative, which lay consequences such as tension between intergenerational relationships and social disharmony. Current study centers on interpersonal synchrony as a potential intervening venue. Prior researches show that synchronous activities enhance positivity among interpersonal interactions, yet, those studies were limited to subjects within the same generation. It remains uncertain whether past findings can be generalized to people in opposite age groups. Thus, this study adopted a pre and post-test experimental design to test whether synchronous activities, specifically synchronous walking, promote positive sentiments of younger adults toward older adults. Potential changes in components essential for forming positive interpersonal relationships, such as impression, perceived self-other closeness, connectedness, prosocial attitudes and behavior, and conversation engagement, were examined using standard questionnaires to assess younger adults’ sentiments toward older adults throughout experiments. Participants (N = 51; 64.7% female) first completed a battery of questionnaires online assessing background information. After a few days, they were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions (i.e., synchronous walking, asynchronous walking, and no walking) and engaged in tasks with an older confederate. A series of one-way repeated measures ANOVA, one-way ANOVA, and chi-square test of independence were conducted for hypothesis testing. Results revealed that synchronous walking significantly enhanced positive impressions, perceived self-other closeness, connectedness, and prosocial attitudes and behavior toward the older confederate and older adults in general. This study sheds light on applications of synchronous activities for promoting positive intergenerational interactions and extend the research scope of interpersonal synchrony to intergenerational relationships.
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2024-11-05
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