New Skills and Competencies

### **Chapter 5**

## Older Persons, Digital Products, and Standards: The Need for Consumer Protection and Support for Continuous Learning of Older Persons

*Raymond Saner*

### **Abstract**

This chapter addresses the need to help older persons adjust to the digital age and describes major challenges that aging persons as well as persons of all ages have to face in light of today's virtual realities. The author proposes how to best facilitate and support older persons coping strategies and how they can obtain and maintain adequate digital literacy and ability to use existing digital resources. The chapter describes the hidden costs of the digital age for older persons and offers six solutions to how these digital challenges could best be overcome from individual, social, and public policy perspectives.

**Keywords:** digital literacy, older persons' digital challenges, individual coping strategies, community resources, public policy to protect older persons' privacy, and digital competencies

### **1. Introduction**

Human societies have seen an unprecedented age bonus because of the extended life expectancy now reaching 80 years or higher in many developed economies. The number of people who are older than 60 years of age reached 901 million in 2015 representing 12.3% of the total world population. By 2050, it is forecasted that this number will reach 2.09 billion worldwide. For example, in the United States, adults over 65 will outnumber children by 2030, and in Japan, more than 40% of the country will be over 65 by 2060 [1]. This development has changed the demographic distribution of populations and the demand patterns for public services and resource allocation. An important factor greatly impacting these shifts is advances in technology, which has escalated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With aging populations, there is a growing demand for technologies to better meet the needs of older persons [1, 2]. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have the extraordinary potential to respond to the demands of this

demographic shift and meet the challenges of a shrinking workforce, as well as improving healthcare and caregiving for older persons. For instance, a sizeable minority of mid-life and older Americans are using ICT devices to manage medical care [3],1 Artificial Intelligence [4], and Big Data [5]. Drones and robotics and other game-changing technologies are already being harnessed to improve the lives of older persons [4]. For instance, drones are being tested by Japanese farmers, many of whom are older persons, to ease the burden and enhance productivity of applying pesticides and fertilizers on crops. Hi-tech drones come to the aid of Japan's aging farmers [6].

At the same time, there are also key challenges that need to be addressed, privacy and security remain a challenge for older Americans: Just under 18 percent of 50+ adults are confident about their data privacy, but many do not take proactive steps, including passcodes and two-factor authentication, to secure their data [3] including accessibility of these technologies and digital skills for older persons. For example, older Americans are more likely to have access to technology such as desktops and feature phones. Only a small percentage of the 50+ market has access to and adopts recent technologies, including wearables and home assistants [7]. Older Americans are generally less connected than younger persons, including the so-called "digital natives" who have grown up with these technologies [8]. In addition, stereotypes need to be overcome about older persons' disinterest and lack of capacity for digital skills and tech entrepreneurship and there are also instances of exploitation of older people as consumers online [9].

The Decade of Healthy Aging (2020–2030) launched by the WHO2 and the United Nations and the 2030 Agenda with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)<sup>3</sup> provide strong support for all stakeholders—governments, private sector, and civil society—to commit to policies, regulations, and activities, which can reduce if not push back the still prevalent impact of ageism. The most recent report of the UN Secretary-General of 7th July 2022 takes an additional step and focuses directly on the impact of digital technologies on global aging.4

### **1.1 Methodology**

The author's research question pertains to the query as to how much digitalization impacts the lives of older persons. The research method used was literature reviews of key documents published by relevant international and normative organizations such as the World Health Organization, the United Nations General Assembly, and the UN Secretary General's Office.

### **2. Challenges of the digital area for all ages**

Thanks to the multitude of ICT products (internet, mobile phone, and smartphone) and social media, people, in general, are able to nonstop watch and participate in various forms of webinars, as well as make e-phone calls, send text messages, surf

<sup>1</sup> https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/American\_Association\_of\_Retired\_Persons

<sup>2</sup> (https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/decade-of-healthy-ageing/final-decade-proposal/ decade-proposal-final-apr2020-en.pdf?sfvrsn=b4b75ebc\_25&download=true

<sup>3</sup> https://sdgs.un.org/goals + https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_Sustainable\_Development\_ Goal\_targets\_and\_indicators).

<sup>4</sup> file:///C:/Users/Saner/Downloads/A\_77\_134-EN.pdf

### *Older Persons, Digital Products, and Standards: The Need for Consumer Protection and Support… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108983*

the Internet, download apps, and use the built-in camera function to take pictures and share notices *via* Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other devices.

However, standards that are the basis for all these AI-ICT digital products also have a hidden cost. The e-devices are based on industry standards embedded and hidden in the ICT devices, which we are using. Using these devices means accepting the many requirements of these ICT products. Knowing how these standards influence our behavior, thinking, and emotions is not possible for most people, whether young or old.

For instance, while wanting to benefit from the opportunities, which modern ICT methods offer, a consumer will not know how the computer chips function and how they are applied, for instance, through blockchains that are used to control and block payment systems or production processes of supply and value chains.

The user of modern ICT tools knows that he/she cannot control the ICT product that he/she is using since understanding how they operate would require technical know-how, which most users today do not have. Hence, we benefit from the fascinating access to a technological product like one based on virtual reality provided we accept the rules given by the programmers and chip engineers.

In other words, we are surfing a digital wave that can take us far into the imaginary sea as long as we do not forget that digital surfing does not depend on our physical strengths but only on our ability to click on the keyboard and navigate the given binary options of the digital game.

Being bound by a given digital program gives us an imaginary sense of freedom when in fact we are only free to click and choose the given options provided by the digital program. These invisible limitations can be compared to the legend of the Procrustean bed of Greek mythology.

Procrustes "the stretcher [who hammers out the metal]" was a rogue smith and bandit from Attica, ancient Greece, who attacked people by stretching them or cutting off their legs, so as to force them to fit the size of an iron bed.5 The word "Procrustean" is thus used to describe situations where an arbitrary standard is used to measure success, while completely disregarding obvious harm that results from the effort. Like the victims of Procrustes, we get similarly stretched by digital products and standards, albeit mentally (not physically), when we agree to participate in virtual conferences based on virtual tools such as Zoom, Cisco WebEx, Team Viewer, GoToMeeting, and others which structure our human interactions according to rules, which the users cannot change.

### **3. Being captured by virtual reality restricts people's freedom to interact with other human beings**

One aspect of a virtual conference is that, as users/customers, we get captured to be part of this virtual world but once captured, we get "chopped" to place in a Procrustean manner meaning, you have to fit in or better comply with the standard, which for instance can put a participant into virtual rooms or be removed from participation by the zoom host.

The sophisticated programs and standards of virtual devices can be useful; for instance, a participant of a zoom conference can be assigned to a zoom room where

<sup>5</sup> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procrustes

he/she can talk to other participants as if in physical proximity even though they might be physically far apart from each other.

Having been several times in the role of a host of a webinar (called a "zoom master") who runs the flow of a webinar's meeting, I also discovered the power of control over the interactions between zoom participants. For instance, as zoom master, I can mute or unmute people who are participating in my virtual webinar. I can also tell them that attendees can use the chat option and submit questions for the speakers, and further, I can decide whether or not to forward those questions to the speakers or block the questions from reaching them.

Another impact of virtual conferencing is that days blend into each other. Workdays start to be like weekend days and vice versus, and distances are reduced to fake proximity. A person from Zambia and another one living in Brazil are equally present during a webinar as if they were living in the city where I am living and working as well.

The sudden closeness when a zoom participant is assigned to a virtual zoom room is fascinating from a technology point of view and at the same time worrisome, reminding us of another Greek mythology namely that of Scylla and Charybdis [10] who were according to the legendary Greek author Homer are mythical sea monsters located at opposite sides of the Strait of Messina between Sicily and Calabria, on the Italian mainland.6 Scylla was described as a rock shoal (described as a six-headed sea monster) located on the Calabrian side of the strait, and Charybdis was a whirlpool off the coast of Sicily. Scylla would grab passing ships with her many arms and devour them, while Charybdis, by creating a whirlpool, would suck passing ships into the centripetal stream of its whirlpool waters [11].

The two monsters were regarded as maritime hazards located close enough to each other that they posed an inescapable threat to passing ships and sailors; avoiding Charybdis might lead a passing ship to end up too close to Scylla and vice versa [11].

We could be drawn into a whirlpool of a multitude of digital programs and hence of hidden standards without noticing that our freedom of movement is being structured by these often invisible electronic structures of the programmer, which capture our attention but then keep us seduced and turned into addicted consumers.

The Scylla experience could come about through the use of multiple apps, which all seem interesting and important at the beginning but which might lose usefulness, and if not "cut off" (meaning deleted) could block a lot of memory on our mobile phone and at worst leading to a paralysis of our computer or mobile device.

Installing many apps can also give us a false sense of autonomy and independence when in reality the logic of these apps makes us forget that we are "stretched on the bed of Procrustes" and are not free anymore to just walk away. The apps' standards that help us access data and people through virtual realities also limit our ability to freely interact with others through physical closeness and hence make us interact with each other through a filter of quasi reality, sometimes blending physical presence with fake reality depending on what additional apps are being blended into a virtual interaction.

Becoming dependent on the use of apps and Internet conferencing tools such as zoom, Webex, and GoToMeeting, a zoom master can make us lose a sense of time and give us the impression that we lost the freedom to stop the seemingly forever stream of virtual realities. Such a sense of losing reality can come about when people spend too many hours watching and interacting in virtual realities, making our awareness

<sup>6</sup> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Between\_Scylla\_and\_Charybdis

*Older Persons, Digital Products, and Standards: The Need for Consumer Protection and Support… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108983*

become nonlinear and malleable like Salvador Dali's surrealistic artwork, evident in his/her famous painting of a melting watch.

### **4. Digital realities increase the risk of isolation and loneliness in older persons**

The following findings emerged from the literature review. Digitalization forces older persons to cope with multiple challenges. The first challenge can be a sense of loneliness. With growing age, older persons inevitably lose relatives and friends who die away, and they also lose the sense of family when their children leave and move to their own residences. Resulting loneliness can further deepen, should their neighborhood also change due to urban renewal projects and relocation of neighbors, causing loss of social networks, in addition to family ties.

Such losses due to the natural life cycle shrink older persons' psychological living space and exacerbate a sense of isolation, loneliness, and abandonment. This deepens if older persons themselves are forced to move, but cannot find adequate housing, because of financial hardships [12].

A second challenge for older persons, which accelerated due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, is the rapid migration of traditional services (which are public and private) to online service provisions. As a result of COVID-19, consumers were increasingly required to move to using online platforms to fulfill needs, ranging from buying groceries to doctor appointments. Businesses also turned to digital tools in new ways and fast food restaurants created "ghost kitchens" devoted solely to fulfilling online delivery orders [13].

At the same time, public services are also increasingly moving online, for instance, citizens' inquiries and requests for information concerning social security, water and sanitation, electricity, security, and other public services necessary for maintaining daily life. As a consequence, smartphones are needed to call and navigate public administration's webpages and automated general information services.

Older persons with only partial or minimal digital literacy are hence rendered dependent on others to do these necessary online interactions. If alone, or without family, older persons depend on social services, charities, aides, or neighbors to help them meet their simplest needs, and navigate through the rapidly changing digital world.

For those older persons who have only basic digital skills, their need and wish to be in touch with other people through digital means could increasingly put them at risk of being misled by criminals who use fake news to lead older persons astray in order to get access to their bank account or information about access to their living quarters [14].

### **5. Solutions to fend off the threat of digitally induced powerlessness and hopelessness of older persons**

1.Assisting older persons through training and coaching in digital literacy can help older people retain a sense of autonomy, which allows them to do necessary daily life activities, for example, order food, inquire with public authorities, and remain in contact with others, including loved ones [15]. Research has shown that such training has a positive impact on older persons (81–85 years of age) as it increases social networking abilities and reduces loneliness [15].


*Older Persons, Digital Products, and Standards: The Need for Consumer Protection and Support… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108983*

### **5.1 Limitations of this study and future research**

This study was based on reviews of documents of key international organizations such as the WHO and the United Nations. Both international organizations' documents are based on extensive empirical research done by experts in the field of aging in many countries across the globe and are hence a good proxy for relevant empirical findings. Still, it would be beneficial to conduct further studies to validate the impact of digitalization as well as the relevance of the solutions proposed in this text.

### **6. Conclusion**

Digital services and their accessibility and coverage should ensure that all persons who are affected by ICT technologies can enjoy and benefit from the availability of digital services no matter who, where, and when. This call is especially urgent to include older persons.

Inclusion of older people in the area of rapid digital development will require major efforts of stakeholder partnerships by private businesses, philanthropic organizations, civil society organizations, and governments, especially in resourceconstrained countries and areas: Public spaces need to provide access to the internet and digital literacy education and training for older persons, as well as for young and adult persons in developing and least developed countries who remain deprived of internet access and ICT communication tools.

### **Acknowledgements**

The author is grateful for editorial feedback from Judy Kuriansky and Lichia Yiu.

### **Author details**

Raymond Saner Centre for Socio-Eco-Nomic Development (CSEND), University of Basle, Geneva, Switzerland

\*Address all correspondence to: saner@csend.org

© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

### **References**

[1] Salyer K. From Robots to Virtual Reality: 4 Ways Tech Can Improve Seniors 'Lives. 2020. Available from: https://www.itu.int/hub/2020/02/fromrobots-to-virtual-reality-4-ways-techcan-improve-seniors-lives/

[2] Wyndhoven U, Saner R. Session on Older Persons and ICTs. Geneva: WSIS-ITU; 2019

[3] AARP. Technology-use and Attitudes among Mid-Life and Older Americans. 2017. Available from: https://www. aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/ surveys\_statistics/technology/info-2018/atom-nov-2017-tech-module. doi.10.26419%252Fres.00210.001.pdf

[4] Okolo S. Can Artificial Intelligence Improve Older Adults' Health? Forbes: Next Avenue; 2018. Available from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ nextavenue/2018/03/15/can-artificialintelligence-improve-older-adultshealth/

[5] Marcus E. Using Big Data to Improve Care for Older Adults. New York: John A Hartford Foundation; 2016. Available from: https://www.johnahartford.org/ blog/view/using-big-data-to-improvecare-for-older-adults, https://www. thehindu.com/news/international/ hi-tech-drones-come-to-the-aid-ofjapans-ageing-farmers/article24762526. ece?utm\_campaign=social\_flow

[6] Tech Wire Asia. Drones Are Saving Japan's Rice Fields and Ageing Farmers. 2018. Available from: https:// techwireasia.com/2018/08/how-dronesare-saving-japans-rice-fields-andageing-farmers

[7] AARP. Technology-use and Attitudes among Mid-Life and Older Americans.

2018. Available from: https://www. semanticscholar.org/paper/Technology-Use-and-Attitudes-among-Mid-Life-and-Anderson/1d869fb8a21a5082cbfdddece4 85c932153643e2

[8] Anderson O. Getting connected: Older Americans embrace technology to enhance their lives. AARP. 2018:1. DOI: 10.26419/res.00210.001

[9] Puig A. Stopping Scams Targeting Older Consumers. Washington: Federal Trade Commission Consumer Advice; 2018. Available from: https://consumer.ftc. gov/consumer-alerts/2018/02/stoppingscams-targeting-older-consumers

[10] Scylla and Charybdis; Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Between\_Scylla\_and\_Charybdis

[11] Wikipedia Contributors. Between Scylla and Charybdis. 2022. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Between\_Scylla\_and\_Charybdis. [Accessed: June 4, 2022]

[12] CSEND. Intergenerational cooperative housing for sustainable ageing and inclusive communities. In: Position for the 9th Session of the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing 23rd – 26th July 2018. New York: UNDESA; 2018

[13] Lund S, Madgavkar A, Mischke J, Remes J. What Next for Consumer, Workers and Companies in the Post Covid-19 Recovery. San Francisco: McKinsey Global Institute; 2021

[14] Collins A, Ebrahimi T. Risk Governance and the Rise of Deep Fakes. IRGC, Lausanne: EPFL; 2021

[15] Sala E, Gaia A. Older People's Use of Information and Communication

*Older Persons, Digital Products, and Standards: The Need for Consumer Protection and Support… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108983*

Technology in Europe. The Italian Case. Bologna: Societ'a editrice il Mulino; 2019

[16] Saner R, Brülisauer S, Yiu L. Information and communication technology (ICT) and the social and solidarity economy. In: Encyclopedia of the Social and Solidarity Economy (Forthcoming 2023) Published by Edward Elgar Publishing Limited in Partnership with United Nations InterAgency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE). Geneva: ILO; 2022

[17] WHO. UN Decade of Healthy Ageing. Geneva: WHO; 2021. Available from: https://www.who.int/initiatives/ decade-of-healthy-ageing

[18] Fleishman G. Tech Giants Enormous Power- but Could be their Undoing. Seattle: Fast Company; 2020

### **Chapter 6**

## Knowledge of Intergenerational Contact to Combat Ageism towards Older People

*Alice Nga Lai Kwong*

### **Abstract**

Among the multi-dimensional social aspects of aging, intergenerational contacts and relationships between older and younger people will be the focus of this chapter. Underpinned by a study that sought to address and reduce ageism, this chapter discusses the respective roles of direct and indirect intergenerational contacts and their associations with the attitude and prosocial behavior of younger people towards older people. This chapter aims to provide initial evidence about the related processes, mechanisms and relationships involving the older individuals and young people in our society. Valuable insights and synergistic efforts will be provided in how the governments, schools, private and community groups, and the media will all have an integral part to play in applying the knowledge of intergenerational contact to combat ageism towards older people. Future research is needed to better integrate the processes, mechanisms and changing relationships between generations to serve the aging population of Hong Kong.

**Keywords:** ageism, attitude, intergenerational contact and communication, older people, prosocial behavior

### **1. Introduction**

Accelerated aging of the population is leading to a situation in which older people will become the largest proportion of the total population in society. Ageism, which is defined as stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination based on chronological age [1], has become a pressing issue resulting in an increase in research attention across the globe. Existing literature has shown that a prejudicial attitude is a significantly strong predictor of perceived and actual discriminatory behavior directed towards older people [2, 3]. The World Health Organization Global Report on Ageism, World Health Organization (WHO), pointed out that one in two people perceive discrimination against older people in younger people have age discrimination than other age groups [4]. Intergenerational contact, which has expanded from familial to nonfamilial relationships between older and younger people, was seen as an effective way to combat ageism. Generally, intergenerational contact includes direct and indirect forms. Direct intergenerational contact is usually described as face-to-face intergenerational contact between older and younger people. Indirect intergenerational contact is

defined as younger people's contact exposure to older people that does not involve an actual interaction or a direct relationship [5, 6].

The trends of research into intergenerational contact and research on attitude and prosocial behavior towards older people were examined. Most of the studies investigated factors affecting attitude towards older people, and the findings consistently reported that face-to-face intergenerational contact was associated with positive outcomes for attitudes towards older people [2, 7–12]. These studies, however, neglected to examine factors contributing to positive, face-to-face intergenerational contact. In the research into indirect intergenerational contact, only a few studies were found to investigate the relationships between indirect contact, attitudes, and prosocial behavior in the intergenerational context [10, 13, 14]. Yet, the findings were generally inconsistent. There was also scant research examining the interactions of different types of intergenerational contact and their impacts on attitudes and prosocial behavior towards older people. As a result, the mechanisms by which direct and indirect intergenerational contact influenced attitude and prosocial behavior towards older people were not comprehensively described in the existing literature.

Our understanding of factors affecting the quality of intergenerational contact, the relative importance of different intergenerational contact, and how they interrelate was hampered by the lack of a coherent approach to research in this area. To address this, this chapter discusses the roles of direct and indirect intergenerational contacts in reducing ageism. First, the author discusses theoretical approaches underlining intergenerational contact. Second, the author reports a recently completed study that investigated factors contributing to the quality of intergenerational contact, and the roles of direct and indirect intergenerational contacts in promoting young people's attitudes and prosocial behavior towards older people. Lastly, the discussion includes recommendations for policies and intergenerational strategies to reduce ageism.

### **2. Theoretical approaches to intergenerational contact**

As applied to this study, intergenerational contact is defined as the intergroup contact between older and younger people. There are two primary types of intergenerational contact: direct and indirect intergenerational contact.

### **2.1 Direct intergenerational contact**

Direct intergenerational contact, also known as face-to-face intergenerational contact, occurs in various forms including contact within a family relationship, friendship or working relationship. It can also take place in intergenerational programmes supported by authorities [6, 15]. Allport's Intergroup Contact Theory [16] explains the psychological process of contact between people from different social groups causing an in-group person to reduce prejudice against an out-group. It has been used extensively to study intergroup contact. According to Allport's theory, four conditions are essential for positive, direct intergroup contact. When face-to-face intergroup contact demonstrates an equal status, shares a common goal, maintains a cooperative interaction and is supported by institutions or authorities, such contact results in reduced prejudice and discriminatory behavior against outgroup members.

Social Presence Theory [17] emphasizes the importance of an interpersonal dimension that plays in face-to-face intergroup contact. It predicates that

### *Knowledge of Intergenerational Contact to Combat Ageism towards Older People DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105592*

communication media influences people's impressions of and responses to others which is essential in developing or maintaining social interaction. According to the theory, the level of richness of communication media affects that of social presence. The medium that promotes communication, simultaneous feedback, and a rich exchange of ideas and information results in a higher level of social presence leading to a positive face-to-face contact [18]. In other words, intergenerational communication media, which includes face-to-face contact, telephone conversation and written and text-based media, is considered the antecedents of the face-to-face intergenerational contact quality.

In the existing literature, face-to-face intergenerational contact was often assessed, in terms of frequency or quality, by self-reports. For frequency of contact, young people were asked to indicate how often they had face-to-face contact with older people. Quality of contact was assessed by young people's self-reported quality of face-to-face contact with an older person(s). Previous studies that measured both frequency and quality of contact consistently found that the quality rather than the frequency of face-to-face intergenerational contact was associated with significantly better attitudes among younger people towards older people [8–10].

### **2.2 Indirect intergenerational contact**

There are two major forms of indirect intergenerational contact. Extended intergenerational contact forms when a younger person knows a friend who has a positive relationship with an older person [19, 20]. It suggests that a younger person does not necessarily meet an older individual to gain a positive perception of older people. Knowledge about a friend's positive intergenerational contact with an older individual is enough for building a positive attitude or prosocial behavior towards older people. The rationale behind extended intergenerational contact can be explained by Balance Theory [19]. The theory assumes that people aim to maintain balanced human relationships and seek ways to resolve the imbalance when it happens. An imbalanced human relationship occurs when there is a positive relationship between the individual and the ingroup friend, and between the ingroup and the outgroup friend, but a negative relationship between the individual and the outgroup. As a result, to maintain harmonious human relationships, individuals try to improve their attitude towards the out-group. Applied to this paper, when a younger person receives extended intergenerational contact by learning about a positive relationship between his or her friend and an older individual, the younger person tends to gain a positive attitude towards older people. Previous studies assessed extended intergenerational contact by asking young people to indicate how many of their close friends had a positive relationship with older person(s). The more friends have a positive relationship with an older individual that a younger person recognized, the more extended intergenerational contact would be experienced by him or her.

Another form of indirect intergenerational contact is called vicarious intergenerational contact. It occurs when a younger person observes a younger person, a member of the same social group, having positive, intergroup contact with an older individual [6]. Theoretically, this contact involves a process of observational learning and abstract modeling. Through observational learning, a younger person observes others and receives information about social norms of an intergenerational contact between older and younger people. Further, a younger person is facilitated to behave similarly to those being observed. Abstract modeling takes place when an individual applies attitudes and behaviors learned from the observation of others to similar

contexts involving older and younger people [20]. Vicarious intergenerational contact can be depicted in various forms of media containing a story about an intergenerational interaction that is described by words or images and takes forms such as books, newspapers, television, radio programmes and social media.

General Learning Model, developed by Buckley and Anderson [21], is the primary psychological theory of learning used to explain the effect of media on prosocial behavior. It shares a similar theoretical mechanism with that of vicarious intergenerational contact. Like the mechanism of General Learning Model that emphasizes the influence of observation that fosters a learning counter, vicarious intergroup contact creates a vicarious learning encounter through the observation of a successful intergroup interaction and thus observers model their thoughts or behaviors based on these observations [22]. In addition, both General Learning Model and vicarious intergenerational contact influence the individual's behavior towards strangers, rather than towards family members or friends. In other words, older and younger people do not have a genuine relationship in vicarious intergenerational contact. When General Learning Model is applied to this paper, a younger person who observes a character, who positively interacts with an older individual in a media outlet such as television or printed material, the younger person will be more likely to develop similar thoughts and attitudes and to engage in similar behaviors towards older people in an authentic environment. To assess young people's exposure to vicarious intergenerational contact depicted in the media, participants in previous studies were asked to indicate, in terms of frequency, how often they had seen any positive interaction between older and younger people via different occasions. A higher frequency meant more vicarious intergenerational contact received by younger people.

### **3. Study**

A recently completed study by the author provides new evidence about the effects of direct and indirect intergenerational contact on young people's attitudes, prosocial intentions and prosocial behaviors towards older people. A cross-sectional study of 467 young Chinese people aged between 15 and 24 years was conducted in Hong Kong in 2020. Participants responded to an online questionnaire regarding their experiences of intergenerational contact with older people, as well as their perceived attitude, prosocial intention and prosocial behavior towards older people. In particular, the study addressed two research questions:


Several dependent variables were measured. Kogan's Attitude towards older people scale [23] was used to assess participants' perceived attitude towards older people. The potential total score ranged from 34 to 238, with a higher score indicating a more positive attitude towards older people. Perceived prosocial intention towards older people was assessed by the Hong Kong version of the Prosocial Tendencies Measure [24] and the total score was derived as the summation of all the item scores which

### *Knowledge of Intergenerational Contact to Combat Ageism towards Older People DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105592*

ranged from 24 to 120. A higher score implied more prosocial behavioral intentions. In addition, a context-specific, five-statement prosocial intention scale that was originally developed by Bousfield and Hutchison [8] was used. The total prosocial intention score ranged from 5 to 25 with a higher score representing more prosocial intention towards older people. Modified from existing research [8, 25], the measurement for prosocial behavior included five situations involving older people. Young people were asked to indicate how often they exhibited prosocial behaviors towards older people on a five-point scale ranging from 'never' to 'always' in the five situations. The overall prosocial behavior score was derived as the summation of all the item scores that ranged from 4 to 20. A higher score implied more prosocial behavior towards older people.

### **3.1 Factors contributing to quality of intergenerational contact**

Based on Allport's Intergroup Contact Theory [16], the conditions for facilitating quality intergenerational contact should include equal status, intergroup cooperation, shared goals and institutional support. As existing literature that tested the associations between these conditions and the quality of intergenerational contact was limited, the study attempted to investigate these associations. Younger people in the study were asked to indicate their perceptions of equal intergenerational status, intergenerational cooperation and shared goals during their face-to-face contact with older people. The results showed that younger people who perceived higher levels of equal status in face-to-face intergenerational contact were more likely to report a higher quality of face-to-face contact with older people. The study also examined the types of intergenerational communication media that were associated with young people's perception of the quality of face-to-face intergenerational contact. Younger people in the study estimated how often they had used each of three media categories of phone contact, social-networking platforms (e.g. WhatsApp), and paper-based media (e.g. letters) to communicate with older people. The results showed that phone contact was the most significant factor associated with better quality of face-to-face intergenerational contact while social-networking platforms and paper-based media were not. Younger people who had more phone contact with older people, they were more likely to report a higher quality of face-to-face contact with older people. The full results of the study have been reported in [26].

### **3.2 Roles of direct and indirect intergenerational contact in influencing attitude and prosocial behavior towards older people**

Before analyses were conducted to test whether face-to-face, extended and vicarious intergenerational contact significantly contributed independently to a positive attitude towards older people, the study tested the relationship between attitude, prosocial intention and prosocial behavior towards older people and the results confirmed that prosocial intention mediated the relationship between attitude and prosocial behavior towards older people. Therefore, when young people displayed a positive attitude towards older people, they were more likely to engage in prosocial intention and further, prosocial behavior towards older people.

Regarding the roles of different types of intergenerational contact, the present study showed that the quality of face-to-face intergenerational contact was the strongest contribution to attitude towards older people, followed by vicarious intergenerational contact in the complete sample. However, extended intergenerational contact

was not significantly associated with attitude towards older people in the complete sample. Further, the results demonstrated that the strengths of direct and indirect contact relationships differed in people having high and low levels of face-to-face contact frequency. For young people having more face-to-face contact with older people, quality of face-to-face intergenerational contact and vicarious intergenerational contact were significantly associated with a better attitude towards older people, with quality of face-to-face contact being the strongest correlate. For young people having less or absent face-to-face contact with older people, vicarious intergenerational contact became the strongest contribution to a positive attitude towards older people, followed by face-to-face intergenerational contact and extended intergenerational contact. Details of the study results were published elsewhere [27].

### **4. Theoretical implications**

### **4.1 Intergenerational engagement in face-to-face contact**

Young Chinese people in this study had a strong desire for equal intergenerational status in face-to-face contact with older people, while they had relatively less concern about intergroup cooperation and shared goals. The findings affirm that cultural principles play an important role in intergenerational relationships. In Chinese societies, the traditional values of filial piety have empowered older people to engage in a hierarchically intergenerational relationship with younger people characterized as engaging in non-accommodative behaviors and communicating in an inappropriate manner, such as talking down to young people, providing unsolicited advice and negatively stereotyping young people. Therefore, young Chinese people may perceive an unequal status in face-to-face intergenerational contact and describe older people as non-listening, complaining, disapproving, over-parenting and bossy [28]. There is evidence of young people who perceived older people as unaccommodating and displaying a negative attitude towards older people [29]. Therefore, the typical expression of age-based norm of filial piety in Chinese culture may explain the results of the study in that young Hong Kong Chinese who recognized equal status in their face-to-face contact with older people perceived this contact as higher in quality.

### **4.2 Intergenerational communication media**

Nowadays, social-networking platforms have become the most frequent communication medium which is regarded as a replacement for traditional communications among younger people. From the perspectives of older people, however, telephone remains the preferred medium to stay in contact with others. On the one hand, compared to younger people, older people are slow to accept and adapt to technology as they have relatively lower Internet self-efficacy in terms of perceived ease of use, perceived quality and accessibility of technology. They generally lack confidence and are less inclined towards new communication technologies. Thus, they have lower behavioral intentions towards technology [30, 31]. On the other hand, existing literature demonstrates that older people value deeper and more thoughtful communication via phone [32, 33]. Compared to social-networking platforms, phone contact produces a higher level of social presence which is essential for developing or maintaining social interaction. It is obvious that the use of communication media by young people to maintain relationships with older people is likely to manifest in different ways. The findings of the study suggested that young people who were willing to communicate via the medium preferred by older people (i.e. by phone) reported a better quality of face-to-face contact with older people compared to those who used other communication media.

### **4.3 Strengths of direct and indirect intergenerational contact**

Of all hypothesized factors, quality of face-to-face contact had the strongest association with a positive attitude towards older people. As in the present study, most intergenerational contacts stemmed from family relations, we could hypothesize that frequent face-to-face contact with an older family member was not positively linked to attitude towards older people from the perspective of young Hong Kong Chinese. The present findings reflect that the cultural norm of intergenerational solidarity, which is associated with intergenerational closeness and contact, is weakening in Hong Kong Chinese societies. Traditionally, intergenerational closeness and contact are not exclusive, but have interacting effects, in Chinese families [34, 35]. However, the actualization of intergenerational solidarity has been challenged in Chinese societies. Young Chinese people have become more influenced by the Western culture of individualism focusing on independence, self-reliance and self-fulfillment, which contradicted the traditional norm of authoritarian filial piety in Chinese culture [36]. From the perspective of young people, older people belong to a different generation and have quite different living circumstances, interests and beliefs. Consequently, contact experiences are not always positive in Chinese multigenerational families [37, 38]. It is therefore not surprising that the present study found no relationship between frequency of intergenerational contact and attitude towards older people in the Chinese context. These findings are in line with a recent study showing that intergenerational co-residence is not significantly linked to a higher quality of life for Chinese older people [39]. The transformation of family intergenerational contact suggests the need to look beyond traditional models to understand family intergenerational relationships in the changing contexts of Chinese societies.

The study proved that indirect intergenerational contact was a significant correlate of positive attitude towards older people, but it had a weaker effect than direct contact. While 91% of younger people in the study had face-to-face contact with older people, one plausible explanation was that young people having positive face-to-face contact already had a positive attitude towards older people. Hence, their attitude towards older people was not influenced further by indirect contact. Additionally, scholars suggested that people depended on direct, rather than indirect, contact to determine their attitude towards outgroup people [19]. As a result, when there was face-to-face intergenerational contact, indirect intergenerational contact produced little added effects on attitude towards older people.

This was the first study to prove that vicarious intergenerational contact was the strongest contribution to a positive attitude towards older people when young people's face-to-face contact frequency with older people was low. In other words, vicarious intergenerational contact could positively promote young people's perceived attitude and prosocial behavior towards older people. Findings shed light on linking media, depicting vicarious contact to attitude and prosocial behavior in the intergenerational context that has reinforced the power of communication media in reducing ageism. Yet, the existing literature consistently shows that older people remain negatively represented in the media. Since media portrayal reflects a society's values and culture, negative media portrayal could be an indicator of the general negative perception of older people within a society. Younger people's negative perception of older people

and their relation of older people to physical limitations are partly due to the negative media portrayals of older people [40]. Particularly, Prieler et al. [41] assert that the public perception of older people is negative in east asian countries and communities, as evidenced in visual media. They analyzed television advertisements from Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea to determine their representations of older people in terms of numerical representations, roles, social interactions, settings and product categories. The analyses showed that older people were underrepresented in television advertisements. Although the author's study has confirmed that media-based vicarious intergenerational contact can positively influence younger people's attitude and prosocial behavior towards older people, the overall results of those media-based vicarious intergenerational programmes are still unknown. It is important to explore the impact of those programmes on ageism reduction in future research.

The study confirmed that extended intergenerational contact was significant only in younger people reporting less or absent face-to-face contact. The plausible explanation of why extended contact did not produce a significant effect on attitude relates to the phenomenon of transitivity, which refers to participants' ability to recognize the complex relationships embedded in extended contact. The definition of extended intergroup contact emphasizes the components of two relationships that involve a direct relationship between an individual and their in-group friend, and an existing extended relationship between an ingroup friend and an in-group friend's out-group friend [42]. Hence, the report of extended contact involves a two-step thinking process. Younger people needed to identify the relationship with their in-group friends (known as the direct relationship), and then, determined whether these ingroup friends had positive contact with older people (known as the extended relationship) [19, 42]. Because of the complex thinking process, younger people might provide inaccurate information about their extended contact. They might have underestimated or overestimated their extended intergenerational contact. Future research should re-visit the operational definitions of extended intergenerational contact in a more systematic manner to ensure that the measurements of direct relationship quantity and extended relationship closeness are taken into consideration.

### **5. Implications for policy and practice**

To combat ageism, scholars have consistently shared the same views on encouraging policies that foster intergenerational connections with different sectors working together to eliminate prejudice and discrimination against older people [43, 44]. While there is a lack of a research-based approach for policy design to address the complexity of intergenerational practices, serious effort needs to be put into understanding intergenerational needs and promoting quality intergenerational connections, that is intergenerational solidarity, between older and younger people at distinct levels in Hong Kong.

### **5.1 Intergenerational contact in the family context**

The present study showed that young people's most frequent contact with older people was via a grandparent or parent. Therefore, the family remains the primary source of intergenerational contact in Hong Kong. In recent decades, the family has been remarkably changing in terms of its structure, functioning, living arrangements and intergenerational relationships. On the one hand, social phenomenon such as

### *Knowledge of Intergenerational Contact to Combat Ageism towards Older People DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105592*

delayed childbearing, grandparent-parent-grandchildren bonding sandwich families and older people living longer have widened the age gap between generations. On the other hand, complex family relationships such as divorce and remarriage have weakened family support for younger and older members of a family. Due to these evolving family trends, new directions for the development and implementation of family policies should have been formulated accordingly [45]. However, there is still marked asymmetry in the family-friendly policies implemented in Hong Kong with more support and practices provided to families having young children. For example, many companies and industries allow flexible working hours for taking care of children, offer subsidies for childcare and provide access to child-care facilities in the workplace. While elder-family policies related to intergenerational solidarity focus more on caregiving for aging parents, there is a lack of policy support for building positive familial intergenerational relationships and promoting the quality of familial intergenerational contact. To promote familial relationships in families with older people, future family policies should consider unique features that shape the new familial intergenerational ties and integrate views and perspectives from younger and older generations into the family. Also, future research is critical to illuminate these issues.

### **5.2 Integrational contact in the institutional context**

Efforts to promote intergenerational contact have expanded from familial to nonfamilial relationships between older and younger people. While intergenerational programming is the instrument for policy enfolding intergenerational practice, effective intergenerational programmes, which are diverse and appear in various forms, can inform theoretical and evidence-based policies. The development of intergenerational programmes requires partnerships between government, non-government organizations, employers, and academia for promoting opportunities for quality intergenerational contact between older and younger generations [44].

To reduce ageism among younger generations, there are some things that key partners and relevant stakeholders might do to advance policy and practice in intergenerational programmes. First, face-to-face and vicarious intergenerational contact can be implemented together in intergenerational programmes to effectively reduce ageism. Vicarious intergenerational contact, which serves to be a facilitating component of an integrated intervention package, can be implemented before the actual face-to-face intergenerational contact occurs. Such intervention may reduce intergroup anxiety and produce lower stress responses when young people have face-to-face contact with older people. Further, an intergenerational programme should explicitly involve an equal intergenerational relationship that can be achieved by the exchange of knowledge, skills, values, and resources to promote reciprocal support and respectful collaboration between older and younger people [46]. Kessler and Staudinger [47] suggested that an intergenerational programme should activate generativity in older people and identity formation in young people in order to form an equal intergenerational status. For instance, an intergenerational programme includes two collaborative tasks involving work on a life problem that assigns the status of 'expert' to older people and work on a fictitious media problem that assigns the status of 'expert' to young people. As a result, such an approach facilitates the generativity in older people and identity formation in younger people in a way that older and younger people are given opportunities to equally receive and contribute to topics that they value leading to the development of equal intergenerational status in face-to-face contact.

### **5.3 Integrational contact in the societal context**

Intergenerational programmes can transfer intergenerational solidarity from an institutional to a societal setting. On the one hand, the social ties formed between older and younger people in intergenerational programmes can be part of their informal social networks in the community [48]. On the other hand, equally exchanged knowledge, skills, values, traditions, resources, insights, reciprocal support and respectful collaboration gained from intergenerational programmes can facilitate a process of capital exchange in society [44, 46].

To ensure intergenerational solidarity is sustained in the wider community, intergenerational integration is the key, meaning that integration of the child/youth- and elder-oriented initiatives that involve community-wide and multi-sector efforts are required at the societal level. Through efficient and flexible uses of physical facilities, and through social mobilization of resources to simultaneously cater for the physical and social needs of older and younger generations, intergenerational integration helps to create social capital in an inclusive community [44, 49]. There is a wide range of innovative, practical examples of intergenerational integration. Schools, for example, can serve as community centres that offer programmes and meal services for older people during after-school hours. Similarly, senior centres can provide after-school activities for youths [46, 49]. Additionally, a multi-generational community centre that combines services for older and younger people can create natural opportunities for bringing older and younger generations together to promote spontaneous intergenerational interactions and bridge diverse intergenerational experiences.

The new evidence about the significant role of vicarious intergenerational contact in promoting a positive attitude towards older people among younger people provides insights into building mass media influence to combat ageism. Mass media, including news, television, radio and social media is one of the most powerful sources of influence on many public health issues, effectively sending information to a vast audience. A growing of initiatives has been observed on the impact of the media on increasing people's awareness and knowledge, and on the media's ability to change attitudes, social norms, and behaviors regarding public health issues. In the recent decade, social media has largely replaced the traditional mass media such as television or newspapers in the younger generation. Therefore, vicarious intergenerational contact should be recognized and publicized through social media to reduce ageism. The content of vicarious intergenerational contact should explicitly feature an equal status in the interaction between older and younger people.

### **6. Strengths and limitations of the study**

There are a few strengths of the presently reported study. It examined potential variables contributing to the quality of face-to-face intergenerational contact that has been largely neglected in previous researches. These variables include aspects of intergenerational engagement and intergenerational communication media. Further, the present study has addressed the limitations of previous research regarding sampling. Previous studies on intergenerational contact adopted a homogenous sample, with participants being recruited from one study site only. Also, the study focused on the general, younger population, recruiting young people from different backgrounds. Thus, it offers a more heterogeneous and representative sample as compared to those of previous studies.

*Knowledge of Intergenerational Contact to Combat Ageism towards Older People DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105592*

The present study has identified some limitations. First, the sample was predominantly female (66.6%), which may limit the generalizability of the findings. Second, the study relied on participant reports rather than observation of actual prosocial behavior. As self-reported data are susceptible to recall bias and social desirability bias, there may be discrepancies between self-reported and actual prosocial behavior. Finally, some variables were measured by single items. A single-item measure failed to examine how young people defined, 'quality of face-to-face intergenerational contact.' It might also have simplified the measurement of extended intergenerational contact since the self-reported extended contact involves a two-step thinking process.

### **7. Conclusion**

This chapter has described theoretical approaches to study different types of intergenerational contact in the context of older and younger generations. The author's recently completed study provided new evidence about the related processes, mechanisms and relationships involving the older individuals and young people. The study has contributed to filling the research gaps regarding intergenerational contact between older and younger people in Hong Kong. First, the study demonstrated that younger people maintaining frequent phone contact with older people and perceiving an equal intergenerational status during face-to-face contact with older people had higher quality of face-to-face intergenerational contact. Second, the study investigated the relative importance of direct and indirect intergenerational contact. Indirect intergenerational contact was related to a more positive attitude towards older people when younger people's opportunity for face-to-face intergenerational contact with older people was low. Although the quality of face-to-face intergenerational contact was associated with a significantly better attitude towards older people, vicarious intergenerational contact was the strongest contribution to a better attitude when younger people's level of face-toface contact with older people was low. The new evidence has challenged the traditional assumptions embedded in current policies and practices to combat ageism. Based on the study findings, this chapter has provided political and practical suggestions highlighting the importance of synergistic efforts in that governments, schools, private and community groups, and the media all have the responsibility to address the pressing challenges of ageism reduction. Intergenerational integration is the key area in which policymakers and organizations of different sectors should take an intergenerational lens to develop innovative policies and practices at family, institutional and societal levels [4].

### **Acknowledgements**

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Elsie Yan, for her insightful guidance, constructive feedback and continued support at each stage of the study. Her enthusiasm and motivation inspired me a lot which drove me to the completion of the study.

### **Conflicts of interest**

The author declares that there is no conflict of interest as far as the study is concerned.

*Social Aspects of Ageing – Selected Challenges, Analyses, and Solutions*

### **Author details**

Alice Nga Lai Kwong Hong Kong Christian Service, Hong Kong

\*Address all correspondence to: alice.nl.kwong@connect.polyu.hk

© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*Knowledge of Intergenerational Contact to Combat Ageism towards Older People DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105592*

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### *Edited by Andrzej Klimczuk*

*Social Aspects of Ageing - Selected Challenges, Analyses, and Solutions*, focuses on the key challenges underlined by the United Nations during the Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030). The authors introduce studies in areas crucial for older people, their families, and communities, such as combatting ageism, age-friendly environments, and care provision. The volume also examines issues linked to the global, national, regional, and local implementation of age-specific and intergenerational solutions, initiatives, and programs towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The collection contains chapters representing research and practical recommendations from various disciplines, such as critical studies, geographical gerontology, legal studies, public health, and sociology. This volume is an asset to academic and professional communities interested in theories of ageing as well as public services and ageing policies. In addition, the book aims to help students, practitioners, and people working in government, business, and nonprofit organizations.

*Katherine K.M. Stavropoulos, Education and Human Development Series Editor*

Published in London, UK © 2024 IntechOpen © NeoLeo / iStock

Social Aspects of Ageing - Selected Challenges, Analyses, and Solutions

IntechOpen Series

Education and Human Development,

Volume 16

Social Aspects of Ageing

Selected Challenges, Analyses, and Solutions

*Edited by Andrzej Klimczuk*