TY - JOUR
T1 - An experimental investigation of a simulated online intergenerational friendship
AU - Lytle, Ashley
AU - Macdonald, Jamie
AU - Levy, Sheri R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Reducing ageism is a significant social issue. The current study involved a novel experimental examination of whether a one-time simulated online intergenerational friendship would reduce ageism. Undergraduate participants were randomly assigned to complete an interpersonal closeness exercise (the “fast friends” procedure, Aron et al., 1997; Lytle & Levy, 2015) with a confederate who used a script to answer the fast friends questions, during which they either did not reveal their age (control condition) or revealed being an older adult (age 65; experimental condition). Results indicate that experimental (vs. control) participants reported less ageism and more positive behavior (friendlier responses). These findings suggest that positive online intergenerational contact may help combat ageism. As intergenerational contact was limited before the COVID-19 pandemic and even more so during the pandemic, facilitating online intergenerational contact may be a particularly worthwhile ageism reduction strategy. Further implications of these findings and future directions are discussed.
AB - Reducing ageism is a significant social issue. The current study involved a novel experimental examination of whether a one-time simulated online intergenerational friendship would reduce ageism. Undergraduate participants were randomly assigned to complete an interpersonal closeness exercise (the “fast friends” procedure, Aron et al., 1997; Lytle & Levy, 2015) with a confederate who used a script to answer the fast friends questions, during which they either did not reveal their age (control condition) or revealed being an older adult (age 65; experimental condition). Results indicate that experimental (vs. control) participants reported less ageism and more positive behavior (friendlier responses). These findings suggest that positive online intergenerational contact may help combat ageism. As intergenerational contact was limited before the COVID-19 pandemic and even more so during the pandemic, facilitating online intergenerational contact may be a particularly worthwhile ageism reduction strategy. Further implications of these findings and future directions are discussed.
KW - Ageism
KW - intergenerational contact
KW - intervention
KW - stereotypes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122956950&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85122956950&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/02701960.2021.2023810
DO - 10.1080/02701960.2021.2023810
M3 - Article
C2 - 35043755
AN - SCOPUS:85122956950
SN - 0270-1960
VL - 44
SP - 286
EP - 297
JO - Gerontology and Geriatrics Education
JF - Gerontology and Geriatrics Education
IS - 2
ER -