Benefits of Intergenerational Contact: Ageism, Subjective Well-Being, and Psychosocial Developmental Strengths of Wisdom and Identity

Abstract

The present study examines the benefits of an in-person intergenerational contact program called SAGE (Successful Aging and Inter-Generational Experiences). The SAGE Program pairs older adults (M age 85 years) and younger adults (M age 23 years) for 2 to 3-hour weekly meetings over a 7-week period, where participants can share memories, skills, and values, and foster new perspectives and friendships. We expected the SAGE Program to benefit both older and younger participants with respect to identity processes, subjective well-being, positive mood, and wisdom while reducing ageist beliefs compared to old and young participants serving as their matched controls. Overall, participants in the SAGE Program reported greater identity synthesis,subjective well-being, and positive mood. Exploratory analyses suggested that identity synthesis is a likely mediator of that effect. The SAGE Program did not reduce ageist beliefs, but age differences in ageism were found. We address additional results,limitations, and future research directions.