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

The present study examines the benefits of an in-person intergenerational contact program called SAGE (uccessful ging and Inter-enerational xperiences). 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.

Personality, Emotional Qualities of Leisure, and Subjective Well-Being in the Elderly.

In this study, we examined personality traits of older adults and their emotional experiences associated with engaging in specific leisure activities. Older individuals (17 males, 32 females), ages ranging from 65 to 97 years (mean age 74), completed measures of Big Five personality traits, positive and negative affect, subjective well-being (SWB), independent functioning, and an emotion-activity inventory. As expected, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to experience were related to positive affect, while Neuroticism was related to negative affect.

Choice behavior of pigeons (Columba livia), college students, and preschool children (Homo sapiens) in the Monty Hall dilemma.

In the Monty Hall dilemma, an individual chooses between three options, only one of which will deliver a prize. After the initial choice, one of the nonchosen options is revealed as a losing option, and the individual can choose to stay with the original choice or switch to the other remaining option. Previous studies have found that most adults stay with their initial choice, although the chances of winning are 2/3 for switching and 1/3 for staying.

A longitudinal study of AIDS conversations between mothers and adolescents.

The current study examined the stability of mother-adolescent AIDS conversations. Twenty-four mother-adolescent dyads (9 boys, 15 girls) participated at Time 1 (adolescents aged 10-14 years), and again 2 years later. Mothers and adolescents engaged in a videotaped conversation about AIDS and completed AIDS questionnaires.