Elderly perception of youth behaviour, subjective experiences, and intergenerational solidarity: A gender, ecology and class analysis

This study tried to examine the elderly perception of youth behaviour and its effect on subjective experience and inter generational solidarity. Further more, it also studied the effect of gender, class, and location on elderly experiences. 360 respondents, equal numbers of males and females, belonging to rural and urban areas, and from three different socio-economic classes (120 from a higher class, 120 middle class, and 120 lower class), with ages varying from 50 to 78 years, were randomly selected in this study. These subjects were administered the Process of family Dynamics and Intergenerational Relations Scale, developed by Verma (2015). The scale measures normative, functional, consensual processes, subjective experience, coping, and inter generational solidarity. The findings revealed that the elderly experience differences with the younger in the Consensual process whereas no differences in the-functional process and the normative process. But they observed negative subjective experiences and used problem-focused coping to maintain solidarity. Since class and ecology have a significant effect on the elderly experience, the urban higher class and the rural elderly differ from each other in their experiences.