Older Adults’ Written Accounts of Recent Intergenerational Conflict: Initiating Factors and Management Styles

From theoretical perspectives of conflict management and communication accommodation, this study used a content analytic approach to examine older adults’ reports of intergenerational communication in a recent conflict with a grandchild or a nonfamily young adult. Voluntary participants included four hundred and twenty-seven older adults (N = 427, M age = 74.40, SD = 6.18, age range = 61-95) who were first asked to think about a family or nonfamily intergenerational relationship and then to provide a written account about a conflict they were experiencing or had experienced recently in that relationship. Only a portion of the older adults (i.e., 42.4%; n = 181; M age = 74.38, SD = 6.92, age range = 63-95) reported a recent intergenerational conflict in this sample. These written conflict scenarios (i.e., 96 scenarios with grandchildren and 85 scenarios with nonfamily young adults) were analyzed to uncover conflict initiating factors and conflict management styles. In general, chi-square analysis revealed the prevalence of conflict due to old-to-young criticism (n = 57). Disagreement/generation gap (n = 49), young-to-old rebuff (n = 32), cumulative annoyance (n = 26), and young-to-old criticism (n = 14) were also identified. Specifically, results indicated that disagreement/generation gap was reported more frequently in conflicts with grandchildren and old-to-young criticism was reported more frequently in conflicts with nonfamily young adults. In addition, chi-square analysis of the conflict management styles revealed that older adults used the problem-solving (n = 73) and competing styles (n = 67) most frequently and the young adults used the competing style (n = 80) most frequently. Furthermore, results demonstrated that young adults tended to use the avoiding style with grandparents and the competing style with nonfamily elders. On the other hand, older adults reported themselves as using the problem-solving style more with grandchildren and the competing style more with nonfamily young adults. Additionally, the obliging and third-party styles were reported to be used by both young and older adults. In terms of the associations between initiating factors and management styles, results indicated that young and older adults dealt with intergenerational conflict in different ways. In general, the competing style was mostly used when old-to-young criticism initiated the conflict. Further, cumulative annoyance was associated with young adults’ use of the avoiding style and disagreement/generation gap was associated with the problem-solving style for both young and older adults. In terms of the associations between management styles, the use of the competing and problem-solving styles by young adults were significantly associated with the use of the same styles by older adults, indicating both positive and negative reciprocation in intergenerational conflict. The participants who did not report a recent intergenerational conflict (n = 246; M age = 73.64, SD = 5.88, age range = 60-89) were asked to comment on and describe communication characteristics in the relationship by focusing on the reasons why they reported no recent conflict. Content analysis indicated that older adults reported several accommodative characteristics of their communication in both family and nonfamily intergenerational relationships. These accommodative characteristics included respect (n = 57; reported significantly more frequently in family relationships), appropriate management of interpersonal boundaries (n = 46; reported significantly more frequently in nonfamily relationships), a general understanding for each other (n = 20; reported significantly more frequently in nonfamily relationships), and attentive communication and listening and discussing topics of interest (no differences between family and nonfamily relationships). Overall, the current study contributed to research literature in intergenerational conflict in several ways. First, it uncovered conflict initiating factors and conflict management styles in family and nonfamily intergenerational relationships, an area that has been under studied. Second, it provided a new perspective of intergenerational conflict from the older adults’ point of view, which corroborated and contrasted prior intergenerational conflict research from the young adults’ perspective. Third, analysis of the accommodative communication characteristics from those older participants who did not report a recent intergenerational conflict provided baseline data to enhance our understanding of the bright side of communication accommodation in intergenerational relationships. Overall, results suggested that older adults might experience or perceive intergenerational relationships in conflict situations more positively than young adults. Major findings are discussed considering intergenerational communication, interpersonal and intergroup conflict management, shared family identity, and communication accommodation theory