Communication With Older Adults The Influence of Age Stereotypes,Context, and Communicator Age

Forty young, 40 middle-aged, and 40 older adults rated their beliefs about the vocal style that they would use in addressing two older targets—one fitting a negative (Despondent) and one a positive (Golden Ager) stereotype. Participants also gave oral messages to the two targets in either a hospital or community context. Supporting a stereotype-sensitive model of the communication and aging process, participants' beliefs and messages revealed a greater tendency to use patronizing talk with the Despondent target than with the Golden Ager. In addition, the extent and type of patronizing talk (overly nurturing or directive) to the targets was affected by the context in which the target was presented and the age of the communicator. In particular, the number of directive/patronizing messages to Golden Ager targets increased significantly in the hospital context. Finally, older participants were less likely to give patronizing messages to all targets than were younger participants.     

Power as the Achievement of Ends: A Problematic Approach in Family and Small Group Research

Most conceptions of power refer to the relative ability of persons to achieve individual ends in interpersonal contexts in which their ends conflict. Within groups, such as the family, which are characterized by functionally disuse and ongoing relations, there are serious methodological problems with determining actors' ends. This has led to the use of a variety of substitute procedures that allow one to talk of power without assessing the particular ends of specific persons. This paper critically examines these substitute procedures and suggests their inadequacy for the study of families and similar small groups. It is suggested that an alternative to power must be found in order to proceed with the work for which that concept has been used. The sketch of one alternative is presented and its implications discussed.