Intergenerational Communication and Age Boundaries in Mongolia and the United States

Abstract

This article examines Mongolian and American young adults' perceptions of prior experiences of intergenerational communication. Irrespective of culture, as age of targets increased from young adulthood to older adulthood, so did attributions of benevolence, norms of politeness and deference, and communicative respect and avoidance; conversely, stereotypes of personal vitality decreased linearly. Mongolian youth expressed more stereotypic personal vitality and less normative politeness, yet more normative deference and less communicative avoidance toward older adults. In addition, differences were revealed across the nations with regard to when young adulthood and middle age begins and ends, and when elderliness begins.