This study investigated contact and ageism on both the implicit and the explicit level. We examined the role of grandparent–grandchild communication (in terms of self-disclosure) and its relations to anxiety and empathy in improving intergenerational attitudes. Analyses revealed that: (1) quantity and quality of contact with older people (other than grandparents) predict higher levels of self-disclosure (to one's grandparent); (2) quantity (but not quality) of contact with older people is associated with more favorable implicit associations with them, while quality of contact is associated with more favorable explicit attitudes; and (3) higher levels of self-disclosure to grandparents are associated with empathy and reduced anxiety, which in turn are associated with more positive explicit attitudes toward older adults. We explain our findings in light of the environmental associations model (Karpinsky & Hilton, 2001)—that quantity of contact, or mere exposure to older people, drives the Implicit Association Test effect. The model sheds light on the mediational roles of interpersonal variables (self-disclosure, anxiety, and empathy with a grandparent) in intergenerational contact.
Allport, G. W. (1979). The nature of prejudice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley . (Original work published 1954)
2.
Amir, Y. (1969). Contact hypothesis in ethnic relations . Psychological Bulletin, 71, 319–342 .
3.
Aron, A. , Aron, E. N. , & Smollan, D. (1992). Inclusion of other in the Self Scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 596–612 .
4.
Aron, A. , McLaughlin-Volpe, T. , Mashek, D. , Lewandowski, G. , Wright, S. C. , & Aron, E. N. (2004). Including others in the self. In W. Stroebe & M. Hewstone (Eds.), European review of social psychology (Vol. 15, pp. 101–132). Hove, UK: Psychology Press .
5.
Aron, A. , Melinat, E. , Aron, E. N. , & Vallone, R. D. (1997). The experimental generation of interpersonal closeness: A procedure and some preliminary findings . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 363–377 .
6.
Banker, B. S. , & Gaertner, S. L. (1998). Achieving stepfamily harmony: An intergroup-relations approach . Journal of Family Psychology, 12, 310–325 .
7.
Bargh, J. A. (1999). The cognitive monster: The case against the controllability of automatic stereotype effects. In S. Chaiken & Y. Trope (Eds.), Dual-process theories in social psychology (pp. 361–382). New York: Guilford Press .
8.
Baron, R. M. , & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182 .
9.
Batson, C. D. , Polycarpou, M. P. , Harmon-Jones, E. , & Imhoff, H. J. (1997). Empathy and attitudes: Can feeling for a member of a stigmatized group improve feelings toward the group?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 105–118 .
10.
Batson, C. D. , & Shaw, L. (1991). Evidence for altruism: Toward a pluralism of prosocial motives . Psychological Inquiry, 2, 107–122 .
11.
Berg, J. H. , & Wright-Buckley, C. (1988). Effects of racial similarity and interviewer intimacy in a peer counseling analogue . Journal of Counseling Psychology, 35, 377–384 .
12.
Berger, C. R. , & Bradac, J. J. (1982). Language and social knowledge: Uncertainty in interpersonal relations. London: Edward Arnold .
13.
Bornstein, R. F. (1989). Exposure and affect: Overview and meta-analysis of research, 1968–1987 . Psychological Bulletin, 106, 265–289 .
14.
Brown, R. , & Hewstone, M. (2005). An integrative theory of intergroup contact. In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology. New York: Academic Press .
15.
Caspi, A. (1984). Contact hypothesis and inter-age attitudes: A field study of cross-age contact . Social Psychology Quarterly, 47, 74–80 .
16.
Chen, M. , & Bargh, J. A. (1997). Nonconscious behavioral confirmation processes: The self-fulfilling consequences of automatic stereotype activation . Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 33, 541–560 .
17.
Collins, N. L. , & Miller, L. C. (1994). Self-disclosure and liking: A meta-analytic review . Psychological Bulletin, 116, 457–475 .
18.
Dasgupta, N. , & Greenwald, A. G. (2001). On the malleability of automatic attitudes: Combating automatic prejudice with images of admired and disliked individuals . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 800–814 .
19.
Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 113–126 .
20.
Devine, P. G. , Plant, E. A. , Amodio, D. M. , Harmon-Jones, E. , & Vance, S. L. (2002). The regulation of explicit and implicit race bias: The role of motivations to respond without prejudice . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 835–848 .
21.
Dolgin, K. G. , & Minowa, N. (1997). Gender differences in self-presentation: A comparison of the roles of flatteringness and intimacy in self-disclosure to friends . Sex Roles, 36, 371–380 .
22.
Dovidio, J. F. , Kawakami, K. , & Gaertner, S. L. (2002). Implicit and explicit prejudice and interracial interaction . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 62–28 .
23.
Dovidio, J. F. , Gaertner, S. E. , Kawakami, K. , & Hodson, G. (2002). Why can't we just get along? Interpersonal biases and interracial distrust . Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 8, 88–102 .
24.
Dunkling, L. (1991). The Guinness book of names (5th ed.). London: Guinness .
25.
Ensari, N. , & Miller, N. (2002). The out-group must not be so bad after all: The effects of disclosure, typicality, and salience on intergroup bias . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 313–329 .
26.
Fazio, R. H. (1990). Multiple processes by which attitudes guide behaviour: The mode model as an integrative framework . Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 23, 75–109 .
27.
Fazio, R. H. , Jackson, J. R. , Dunton, B. C. , & Williams, C. J. (1995). Variability in automatic activation as an unobtrusive measure of racial attitudes: A bona fide pipeline?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 1013–1027 .
28.
Fazio, R. H. , & Olson, M. A. (2003). Implicit measures in social cognition research: Their meaning and uses . Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 297–327 .
29.
Finkelstein, L. M. , Burke, M. J. , & Raju, M. S. (1995). Age discrimination in simulated employment contexts: An integrative analysis . Journal of Applied Psychology, 80, 652–663 .
30.
Finlay, K. A. , & Stephan, W. G. (2000). Improving intergroup relations: The effects of empathy on racial attitudes . Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30, 1720–1737 .
31.
Fiske, S. T. (1998). Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. In D. T. Gilbert , S. T. Fiske , & G. Lindzey (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology(4th ed., pp. 357–411). New York: McGraw-Hill .
32.
Fiske, S. T. , & Neuberg, S. L. (1990). A continuum model of impression formation from category-based to individuating processes: Influences of information and motivation on attention and interpretation. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental psychology (Vol. 3, pp. 1–74). San Diego, CA: Academic Press .
33.
Fox, S. , & Giles, H. (1993). Accommodating intergenerational contact: A critique and theoretical model . Journal of Aging Studies, 7, 423–451 .
34.
Grant, L. (1996). Effects of ageism on individual and health care providers' responses to healthy aging . Health and Social Work, 21, 9–15 .
35.
Greene, J. , & Burleson, B. (Eds.) (2003). Handbook of communication and social interaction skills. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum .
36.
Greenwald, A. G. , Banaji, M. R. , Rudman, L. A. , Farnham, S. D. , Nosek, B. A. , & Mellott, D. S. (2002). A unified theory of implicit attitudes, stereotypes, self-esteem, and self-concept . Psychological Review, 109, 3–25 .
37.
Greenwald, A. G. , McGhee, D. E. , & Schwartz, J. L. K. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The implicit association test . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1464–1480 .
38.
Greenwald, A. G. , Nosek, B. A. , & Banaji, M. R. (2003). Understanding and using the Implicit Association Test: I. An improved scoring algorithm . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 197–216 .
39.
Gudykunst, W. B. (1995). Anxiety/uncertainty management (AUM) theory: Current status. In R. L. Wiseman (Ed.), Intercultural communication theory(pp. 8–58). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
40.
Gudykunst, W. B. , & Shapiro, R. B. (1996). Communication in everyday interpersonal and intergroup encounters . International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 20, 19–45 .
41.
Hair, J. F., Jr. , Anderson, R. E. , Tatham, R. L. , & Black, W. C. (1998). Multivariate data analysis with readings (5th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall .
42.
Hamilton, D. L. , & Sherman, J. W. (1994). Stereotypes. In R. S. Wyer, Jr. , & T. K. Srull (Eds.), Handbook of social cognition: Vol. 2. Applications (2nd ed., pp. 1–68). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum .
43.
Harwood, J. , & Anderson, K. (2002). The presence and portrayal of social groups on prime-time television . Communication Reports, 15, 81–98 .
44.
Harwood, J. , & Giles, H. (Eds.) (2005). Intergroup communication: Multiple perspectives. New York: Peter Lang .
45.
Harwood, J. , Hewstone, M. , Paolini, S. , & Voci, A. (2005). Grandparent–grandchild contact and attitudes toward older adults: Moderator and mediator effects . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 770–786 .
46.
Herek, G. M. , & J. P. Capitanio (1996). ‘Some of my best friends': Intergroup contact, concealable stigma, and heterosexuals’ attitudes toward gay men and lesbians . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 412–424 .
47.
Hu, L. , & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cut-off criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives . Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55 .
48.
Hubbert, K. N. , Gudykunst, W. B. , & Guerrero, S. L. (1999). Intergroup communication over time . International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 23, 13–46 .
49.
Islam, M. R. , & Hewstone, M. (1993). Dimensions of contact as predictors of intergroup anxiety, perceived out-group variability, and out-group attitude: An integrative model . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 19, 700–710 .
50.
Jöreskog, K. G. , & Sörbom, D. (1996). LISREL 8 user's reference guide. Chicago: Scientific Software International .
51.
Jourard, S. M. (1971). Self-disclosure: An experimental analysis of the transparent self. Oxford, UK: Wiley .
52.
Karpinski, A. , & Hilton, J. L. (2001). Attitudes and the Implicit Association Test . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 774–788 .
53.
Kite, M. E. , Deaux, K. , & Miele, M. (1991). Stereotypes of young and old: Does age outweigh gender?Psychology and Aging, 6, 19–27 .
54.
Kite, M. E. , & Johnson, B. T. (1988). Attitudes toward older and younger adults: A meta-analysis . Psychology and Aging, 3, 233–244 .
55.
Krueger, J. , & Rothbart, M. (1988). Use of categorical and individuating information in making inferences about personality . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 187–195 .
56.
Laurenceau, J. P. , Barrett, L. F. , & Pietromonaco, P. R. (1998). Intimacy as an interpersonal process: The importance of self-disclosure, partner disclosure, and perceived partner responsiveness in interpersonal exchanges . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1238–1251 .
57.
Lynn, S. J. (1978). Three theories of self-disclosure exchange . Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 14, 466–479 .
58.
MacCallum, R. C. , & Austin, J. T. (2000). Applications of structural equation modeling in psychological research . Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 201–226 .
59.
MacKinnon, D. P. , Lockwood, C. M. , Hoffman, J. M. , West, S. G. , & Sheets, V. (2002). A comparison of methods to test mediation and other intervening variable effects . Psychological Methods, 7, 83–104 .
60.
Miller, N. (2002). Personalization and the promise of contact theory . Journal of Social Issues, 58, 387–410 .
61.
Montepare, J. M. , & Zebrowitz-McArthur, L. (1988). Impressions of people created by age-related qualities of their gaits . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 547–556 .
62.
Ng, S. H. , Liu, J. H. , Weatherall, A. , & Loong, C. F. (1997). Younger adults' communication experiences and contact with elders and peers . Human Communication Research, 24, 82–108 .
63.
Nosek, B. A. , Banaji, M. R. , & Greenwald, A. G. (2002). Harvesting implicit group attitudes and beliefs from a demonstration website . Group Dynamics, 6, 101–115 .
64.
Olson, M. A. , & Fazio, R. H. (2004). Reducing the influence of extrapersonal associations on the Implicit Association Test: Personalizing the IAT . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 653–667 .
65.
Omarzo, J. (2000). A disclosure decision model: Determining how and when individuals will self-disclose . Personality and Social Psychology Review, 4, 174–185 .
66.
Paolini, S. , Hewstone, M. , Cairns, E. , & Voci, A. (2004). Effects of direct and indirect cross-group friendships on judgments of Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland: The mediating role of an anxiety-reduction mechanism . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 770–786 .
67.
Pasupathi, M. , Carstensen, L. L. , & Tsai, J. L. (1995). Ageism in interpersonal settings. In B. Lott (Ed.), The social psychology of interpersonal discrimination(pp. 160–182). New York: Guilford .
68.
Pettigrew, T. F. (1997). Generalized intergroup contact effects on prejudice . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 173–185 .
69.
Pettigrew, T. F. (1998). Intergroup contact theory . Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 65–85 .
70.
Pettigrew, T. F. , & Tropp, L. R. (2000). Does intergroup contact reduce prejudice: Recent meta-analytic findings. In S. Oskamp (Ed.), Reducing prejudice and discrimination(pp. 93–114). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum .
71.
Petty, R. E. , & Mirels, H. L. (1981). Intimacy and scarcity of self-disclosure: Effects on interpersonal attraction for males and females . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 7, 493–503 .
72.
Pierce, G. R. , Sarason, B. R. , & Sarason, I. G. (Eds.) (1996). Handbook of social support and the family. New York: Plenum .
73.
Soliz, J. , & Harwood, J. (in press). Shared family identity, age salience, and intergroup contact: Investigation of the grandparent–grandchild relationship. Communication Monographs .
74.
Steel, J. L. (1991). Interpersonal correlates of trust and self-disclosure . Psychological Reports, 68, 1319–1320 .
75.
Stephan, W. G. , & Stephan, C. W. (1985). Intergroup anxiety . Journal of Social Issues, 41, 157–175 .
76.
Stephan, W. G. , & Stephen, C. W. (2000). An integrated threat theory of prejudice. In S. Oskamp (Ed.), Reducing prejudice and discrimination(pp. 23–46). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum .
77.
Tabachnik, B. G. , & Fidell, L. S. (2001). Using multivariate statistics (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon .
78.
Voci, A. , & Hewstone, M. (2003). Intergroup contact and prejudice toward immigrants in Italy: The mediational role of anxiety and the moderational role of group salience . Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 6, 37–54 .
79.
Wilder, D. A. (1978). Reduction of intergroup discrimination through individuation of the out-group . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 1361–1374 .
80.
Wilder, D. A. (1993). Freezing intergroup evaluations: Anxiety fosters resistance to counterstereotypic information. In M. A. Hogg (Ed.), Group motivation: Social psychological perspectives(pp. 68–86). Hertfordshire, UK: Harvester-Wheatsheaf .
81.
Wilder, D. A. , & Simon, A. F. (2001). Affect as a cause of intergroup bias. In R. Brown & S. Gaertner (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Intergroup processes (pp. 153–172). Malden, MA: Blackwell .
82.
Williams, A. , & Giles, H. (1996). Intergenerational conversations: Young adults' retrospective accounts . Human Communication Research, 23, 220–250 .
83.
Williams, A. , & Giles, H. (1998). Communication of ageism. In M. L. Hecht (Ed.), Communicating prejudice(pp. 136–160). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
84.
Worthy, M. , Gary, A. L. , & Kahn, G. M. (1969). Self-disclosure as an exchange process . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 13, 59–63 .
85.
Wright, S. C. , Aron, A. , McLaughlin-Volpe, T. , & Ropp, S. A. (1997). The extended contract effect: knowledge of cross-group friendships and prejudice . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 73–90 .
86.
Zajonc, R. B. (1968) Attitudinal effects of mere exposure , Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 9, 1–27 .
