Intergenerational Transmission
Limitations
As it is often used in the literature, the concept of intergenerational transmission is frequently narrow in its application. For example, it is often used to imply a one-way flow: the transmission of resources from an older generation to a younger, or the intergenerational transmission of beliefs and attitudes of one generation to another. This is by no means the case, however. While reciprocity is a distinct concept, it is an integral part of intergenerational relations and intergenerational transmission.
A second limitation is that the concept of intergenerational transmission is almost exclusively applied to flows and transfers, particularly financial, down the generations, from older to younger generations. Except in the extensive gerontological literature on caregiving (which focuses almost exclusively on what family members in mid-life do to assist their frail and aging parent or parents), there is little consideration of the intergenerational transmission of values up the lineage from younger to older generations.
A third limitation is the infrequency with which the concept of intergenerational transmission is utilized to describe relations between generations that are non-contiguous, or that represent "skipped" generations. For example, while there is considerable research on parent-child relations, there is much less research on grandparent-grandchild relations (although there is some literature on the role of grandparents in raising grandchildren in families where the middle generation is, for reasons of divorce, addiction, or disability, unable to do so).
See also: ACCULTURATION; ELDERS; ETHNIC VARIATION/ETHNICITY; FAMILY FOLKLORE; GRANDPARENTHOOD; INTERGENERATIONAL PROGRAMMING; INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONS; SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
Bibliography
Amato, P. R. (1996). "Explaining the Intergenerational Transmission of Divorce." Journal of Marriage and the Family 58:628–641.
Baruch, G., and R. C. Barnett. (1983). "Adult Daughters' Relationships With Their Mothers." Journal of Marriage and the Family 45:601–606.
Bengston, V. L.; Cutler, N. E.; Mangen, D. J.; and Marshall, V. W. (1985). "Generations, Cohorts, and Relations between Age Groups." In Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, ed. R. H. Binstock and E. Shanas. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Bengtson, V. L., and Kuypers, J. A. (1971). "Generational Differences and the Developmental Stake." International Journal of Aging and Human Development 2:249–260.
Brody, E. M. (1985). "Parent Care as a Normative Family Stress." The Gerontologist 25:19–29.
Connidis, I. A.; Rosenthal, C. J.; and McMullin, J. A. (1996). "The Impact of Family Composition on Providing Help to Older Parents: A Study of Employed Adults." Research on Aging 18:402–429.
Cooney, T. M., and Uhlenberg, P. (1992). "Support from Parents over the Life Course: The Adult Child's Perspective." Social Forces 71:63–84.
Duffy, A., and Momirov, J. (2000). "Family Violence: Issues and Advances at the End of the Twentieth Century." In Canadian Families, 2nd ed., ed. N. Mandell and A. Duffy. Toronto: Harcourt Brace Canada.
Giarusso, R.; Stallings, M.; and Bengtson, V. L. (1995). "The 'Intergenerational Stake' Hypothesis Revisited: Parent-Child Differences in Perceptions of Relationships 20 Years Later." In Adult Intergenerational Relations: Effects of Societal Change, ed. V. L. Bengtson, K. W. Schaie, and L. M. Burton. New York: Springer.
Glenn, N. D., and Kramer, K. B. (1987). "The Marriages and Divorces of the Children of Divorce." Journal of Marriage and the Family 49:811–825.
Hareven, T. K. (1994). "Aging and Generational Relations: A Historical and Life Course Perspective." Annual Review of Sociology 20:437–461.
Ishii-Kuntz, M. (1997). "Intergenerational Relationships Among Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Americans." Family Relations 46:23–32.
Kahn, R. L. and Antonucci, T. C. (1981). "Convoys of Social Support: A Life Course Approach." In Aging: Social Change, ed. S. B. Kiesler, J. Morgan, and V. K. Oppenheimer. New York: Academic Press.
Kamo, Y., and Zhou, M. (1994). "Living Arrangements of Elderly Chinese and Japanese in the United States." Journal of Marriage and the Family 56:544–558.
Keith, V. M., and Finlay, B. (1988). "The Impact of Parental Divorce on Children's Educational Attainment, Marital Timing, and Likelihood of Divorce." Journal of Marriage and the Family 50:797–809.
Kobayashi, K. M. (2000). "The Nature of Support from Adult Sansei (Third Generation) Children to Older Nisei (Second Generation) Parents in Japanese Canadian Families." Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 15:185–205.
Lawton, L.; Silverstein, M.; and Bengtson, V. L. (1994). "Affection, Social Contact, and Geographic Distance Between Adult Children and Their Parents." Journal of Marriage and the Family 56:57–68.
Maykovich, M. K. (1980). "Acculturation versus Familism in Three Generations of Japanese Canadians." In Canadian Families: Ethnic Variations, ed. K. Ishwaran. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson.
McMullin, J. A., and Marshall, V. M. (1995). "Social Integration: Family, Friends, and Social Support." In Contributions to Independence over the Life Course, ed. V. W. Marshall, J. A. McMullin, P. J. Ballantyne, J. F. Daciuk, and B.T. Wigdor. Toronto: Centre for Studies in Aging, University of Toronto.
McPherson, B. D., (1998). Aging as a Social Process, 3rd ed. Toronto: Harcourt Brace Canada .
Mindel, C. H., and Wright, R., Jr. (1982). "Satisfaction in Multigenerational Households." Journal of Gerontology 37:483–489.
Mindel, C. H.; Habenstein, R.W.; and Wright, R., Jr., eds. (1988). Ethnic Families in America, 3rd edition. New York: Elsevier.
Moynihan, D. P. (1965). The Case for National Action: The Negro Family. Washington, D.C: U.S. Department of Labor.
Mutran, E. (1986). "Intergenerational Family Support Among Blacks and Whites: Response to Culture or to Socioeconomic Differences." In Family Issues in Current Gerontology, ed. L. E. Troll. New York: Springer.
Osako, M. (1976). "Intergenerational Relations as an Aspect of Assimilation: The Case of Japanese Americans." Sociological Inquiry 46:67–72.
Roberts, R. E. L., and Bengston, V. L. (1990). "Is Intergenerational Solidarity a Unidimensional Construct? A Second Test of a Formal Model." Journal of Gerontology 45:S12–20.
Rosenthal, C. J. (1985). "Kinkeeping in the Familial Division of Labor." Journal of Marriage and the Family 47:965–974.
Rosenthal, C. J., and Marshall, V. W. (1988). "Generational Transmission of Family Ritual." American Behavioral Scientist 31:669–684.
Rossi, A. S. (1993). "Intergenerational Relations: Gender, Norms, and Behavior." In The Changing Contract across Generations, ed. V. L. Bengston and W. A. Achenbaum. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Silverstein, M., and Bengtson, V. L. (1997). "Intergenerational Solidarity and the Structure of Adult Child-Parent Relationships in American Families." American Journal of Sociology 103:429–460.
Silverstein, M.; Parrott, T. M.; and Bengtson, V. L. (1995). "Factors That Predispose Middle-aged Sons and Daughters to Provide Social Support to Older Parents." Journal of Marriage and the Family 57:465–475.
Sugiman, P., and Nishio, H. K. (1983). "Socialization and Cultural Duality among Aging Japanese Canadians." Canadian Ethnic Studies 15:17–35.
Sung, K. (1995). "Measures and Dimensions of Filial Piety in Korea." The Gerontologist 35:240–247.
Takaki, R. (1989). Strangers from a Different Shore. New York: Penguin.
Ujimoto, K. V. (1987). "Organizational Activities, Cultural Factors, and Well-being of Aged Japanese Canadians." In Ethnic Dimensions of Aging, ed. D. E. Gelfand and C. Barresi. New York: Springer.
Wolfinger, N. H. (2000). "Beyond the Intergenerational Transmission of Divorce." Journal of Family Issues 21:1061–1086.
ANNE MARTIN-MATTHEWS
KAREN M. KOBAYASHI
Additional topics
Marriage and Family EncyclopediaRelatives & Extended FamilyIntergenerational Transmission - Cultural Transmission: Values, Norms, And Beliefs, Social Support, Intergenerational Solidarity, Limitations