Generation Gap: Its Impacts on Parent-Child Relationships in Adolescence

CHAPTER I

Introduction

Background of the Study

Generation gap has been and will be, in the imminent years to come, a pressing issue

amongst families in a society, particularly affecting the parents and their children in the

adolescence stage. This lack of misunderstanding between the different age groups identified has

been prevalent as far as history goes and constitutes itself as a vital matter; thus far, initiating a

ripple effect. This in turn insinuates the irreversibility of the emergence of further challenges that

will be faced by the succeeding generations.

Over time, well-known foundations serving as the core contributing elements to the said

crisis are identified as the overwhelming rapidity of change, differing social structural positions

of parents and children in the society, and the lack of consensual approach in terms of cultural

transformation.

Primarily, the rapidly changing culture of the modern times results in the intensification

of the chasm left by generational differences on various forms of relationships, specifically

among parents and their children. The continuous evolution of culture, incorporation of

contemporary technological advances as well as the many events occurring through time

permanently altered men’s connections to other men and to the natural world (Mead, 1970). The

deep chasm on various forms of relationships caused by these phenomena exemplifies the kind
 Generation Gap 1

of discord existing at the present time (Perveen, Usman, & Aftab, 2013). As the parents undergo

continuous phases of changes in their environment, their ability to connect with their children

deteriorates as it becomes difficult to adapt with the persisting dynamic conditions. The
 Generation Gap 2

manifestations of the impacts of these progressing trends then become evident on the relationship

between the old and the young, the parents and their children.

Furthermore, discrepancies between the intergenerational relations of parents and

children may be attributable to the differing social structural positions of parents and children in

our society (Shapiro, 2004). The establishment of the said division imprints a permanent

detachment between the old and the young, insinuating to both parties that since the parents are

older, they possess more authority than the young and are more entitled. This then suggests that

when both sides are given equal resources, expectancies, as well as positions, reciprocal

cognition is greater achieved. Because of this existing age segregation, a recognized social

discord between parents and their children is constructed, which in turn causes a strain on how

parents contend with their children and vice versa (Thang, 2001).

Generation gap may represent nothing more than the differences in values, attitudes, and

lifestyle between the old and the young. As it emerged from the rapidly changing culture of the

modern times, parents and their children live in discrete cultural worlds with cultural views often

negating each other― hence resulting in the lack of consensual approach in terms of cultural

transformation. The values and attitudes of a particular generation may differ so immensely from

the earlier or later generation that both generations, in this case the parents and their children, fail

to stand on the same viewpoint.

These conditions, subsequently, are manifested through various examples. In nations like

India, Pakistan, or the new countries in Africa, the young possess great influence on selecting

new methods of learning and parents lose their power to judge and control. In the United States

of America, moreover, parents are “expected to accede to the urgent demands their children were

taught to make, not by the school or by other, more acculturated children, but by the mass
 Generation Gap 3

media” (Mead, 1970, p. 58). These examples illustrate the consequences generated by the

continuous changes occurring in society, incorporated with technological advances, and

influence of the media. In addition, generational differences as a result of cultural transformation

were evident in Russia “at the turn of the eighteenth to nineteenth century in which generational

discourse began to emerge, reflecting the emergence of a new type of identity (generation

identity). Due to cultural transformation at the turn of the centuries, the concept ‘generation’

contained not only concrete ‘age’ meaning but also served as a specific socio-cultural code.” The

parents-children method of identifying one’s place in the society paved the way to a new mode

of expressing national and cultural identity of Russian educated societies (Rodigina & Saburova,

2009).

Statement of the Problem

This study will determine the impacts of generation gap on parent-child relationships

among the junior high school students of Universidad de Zamboanga.

Specifically, it will seek to answer the following research questions:

1. What are the positive and negative impacts of generation gap on parent-child

relationships among the junior high school students of Universidad de Zamboanga?

2. How do parents respond and deal with their children amidst generation gap?

3. How do adolescents react in response to their parents’ approach in dealing with

generation gap?

Significance of the Study

This study on the impacts of generation gap on parent-child relationships may

significantly contribute the following to the guidance counselors, psychology major students,

families, and those who deem this research of advantage as a whole.

 Generation Gap 4

First, this study aims to determine the advantages and disadvantages of generation gap on

parent-child relationships and how these result in the intensification of the said gap. This may

give significant answers to questions concerning the prevailing presence of this phenomenon.

Moreover, this may fill the gap in existing researches on parent-child relationships by further

exploring the contributing factors regarding generation gap.

Second, this study seeks to obtain the responses of the parents and their children to gain

better understanding of both sides. This better understanding may lead to the realization that their

non-consensual approach in dealing with generational differences is both the cause and effect of

the chasm that forms between them.

Lastly, this study may be beneficial in generating the best possible solutions to the

conflicts brought about by generational differences. Both sides, the parents and the adolescents,

may gain insights in resolving intergenerational conflicts.

Scope and Delimitations of the Study

This study will be limited to the discussion of the impacts of generation gap on parent-

child relationships and how the non-consensual approach of both sides as well as the rapidly

changing culture occurring in the society contribute to the intensification of the said gap. To

obtain unbiased results, the data gathered will be collected from both the parents and their

children. The chosen respondents of this study will be exclusive to the junior high school

students of Universidad de Zamboanga, identified as the adolescents in this study, as well as

their respective parents. The selected junior high school students will be of different year levels

and sections.

Definition of Terms
 Generation Gap 1

Adolescence stage. This refers to the stage of emotional, psychological, and physiological

development an individual undergoes before he reaches maturity.

 Generation Gap 5

Adolescents. These refer to individuals currently on the adolescence stage. They are identified in

this study as the junior high school students of Universidad de Zamboanga.

Social structural positions. These refer to the defined structures based on chronological age that

are usually practiced in society in which parents are given absolute authority while the children

comply.

Consensual approach. This refers to a mutual method of understanding established between

parents and adolescents that signify a shared perspective in which both parties have an agreement

with.

Cultural transformation. This refers to the significant changes in culture that occur through

time brought about by technological advances, changes in the natural environment, and elements

that work within a society. This may involve values, attitudes, clothing, beliefs, traditions, and

lifestyle.

Technological advances. These refer to the innovations in field of technology including

machines, equipment, tools and systems that significantly contribute to the society’s upward

mobility.

Generational differences. These refer to the differences that arise resulting from the

dissimilarity of the previous generation's culture with the current generation’s culture. These are

principally defined as the distinguishing aspects between the old and the young.

Old. This refers to the people belonging to the earlier generation, particularly the parents.

Young. This refers to the people belonging to the current generation, particularly the

adolescents.

Intergenerational relations. These refer to the relationship between the old and the young.
 Generation Gap 6

Reciprocal cognition. This refers to the mutual understanding between the parents and children

when both parties have a comparatively equal position and the acknowledgment that both sides

are accepted.

Age segregation. This refers to the defined separation based on chronological age differences

between the old and the young.

Social discord. This refers to the separation of parents and children in terms of communication.

Generation identity. This refers to the qualities a certain generation possesses that distinguish it

from other generations.

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Review of Related Literature

In sociologist Kingsley Davis’ influential article published in 1940 (as cited in Perveen,

Usman, & Aftab, 2013), generation gap is defined as “a deep chasm which opens up between

parents and children, between old and the young, and which is somehow insurmountable”

(p.888). This gap surfaces when the conflict between the parents and their children emerges as

the latter develops the notion that their opinion is as valid as that of the former. As a result, the

young begins to oppose the authority established by the old (Deal, 2007, p.12).

As the young reaches adolescence, his relationship with his parents may be classified as a

three-way act. First, they remain under the influence of their parents but psychologically, they

slowly leave their homes and progress to a much larger world. Second, they strive to surpass

their dependency on their parents and deal with responsibilities on their own. Third, they finally

have established themselves as adults. However, the influence of their parents remains constant

(Jersild, J. Brook, & E. Brook, 1978, pp. 303-304). This influence is most prevalent within the

confines of home. The home is considered as the pivotal aspect in which the role of the

adolescent as a child is emphasized because “it transmits and interprets his culture to him; it

decidedly affects and molds his personality; it offers him security and affection if it is a good

home; it operates as a status- and role-defining agency; and, finally, it is central in promoting his

maturity and determining his future adjustment as an adult” (Horrocks, 1962, p. 75).

However, as the adolescent exposes himself to the larger environment, he is introduced to

a culture that may differ so immensely to what he was accustomed to in his home environment.

The rapidly changing norms, values, attitudes, lifestyles, and the continuous enhancement of

technology embraced in the new environment are contributing factors to the adolescents’ cultural
 Generation Gap 8

transformation. This insinuates the emergence of the differing opinions between two distinct

generations as suggested by Deal earlier. Adolescence, according to H.K. Kpynckag, a former

Soviet Union educator, is the most unstable stage involving strong manipulability because this is

where the maturity of an individual’s mindset towards a more conventional process of thinking is

developed― distinguished by individuality, criticalness and physiological development. The

reality that adolescents start to question and even refuse to comply with the parental authority

they formerly and thoughtlessly followed illustrates such physiological and psychological

transformation. Consequently, the former parent-child relationship pattern is discontinued

resulting to a change from the one-way authority with parental domination to a two-way

authority with parents and children having a comparatively equal position (as cited in Luo, 2001,

p. 88). This lack of consensual approach then constitutes itself as the fundamental factor in

determining generation gap.

Furthermore, Keniston (1962) discusses noncompliance of adolescents to the values and

roles practiced by the older generation (as cited in Offer, 1969) because according to them, the

adult world seems “cold and mechanical”, so they “play it cool” (pp.195-196). However, the

adolescents aspire for more desirable values and goals that would heighten their willingness to

comply and follow the standard established by adults. Mead (1970) further elaborates the opinion

of the young regarding the old suggesting that the older generation is in isolation since there is

persistent struggle to cope up with the constant development of every facet of life over time. This

then institutes the feeling of a distorted connection with the members of the older generation.

As long as any adult believes that he can rely upon his youth to find a common ground

with the youth before him, then he is mistaken. However, this is still manifested in the ways

elders deal with the youth. The fact that they entrust authority–that parents send their children
 Generation Gap 9

away to schools to further develop their knowledge–does not change anything. Its only

implication is that adults continue to apply the same means in which parents, having handed over

the privilege to teach their children, look forward to making their children learn from other adults

and companions. Presently, it can be assumed that “the elders are still in control. And partly

because they are in control, they do not realize that the conditions for beginning a new dialogue

with the young do not yet exist” (Mead, 1970, pp. 80-81). In the research conducted by Deal

(2007), it was suggested that generation gap is rooted from a particular group’s belief that they

are in authority, they get to establish rules and therefore, the other group has to abide by these

rules. Conflicts arise when the other group fails to adhere and challenges the superiority of those

who believe that they are in authority (p.11).

Recently, parent-child relationships were not only perceived as the result of parental

behavior on the child but were also considered as an interactive system whereas the delinquency

of adolescents may both be the cause and effect of parental rejection (Jersild, J. Brook, & E.

Brook, 1978, p. 304).

According to Trehan and Trehan (2010), parents typically expect their children to be

exactly like them, wanting them to follow recognized traditions. More often than not, parents fail

to give careful attention to their children’s seemingly unacceptable ways. Parents should

compromise these ways as long as they are in accordance to morality. Both sides possess

particular strengths. While parents may be at a certain advantage in terms of maturity, wisdom,

and experience in life, advancement and vitality are the strong points of the children (as cited in

Perveen, Usman, & Aftab, 2013, p. 887).

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Conducting a research on generation gap entails thorough investigation on its core

contributing elements so as to meet the objectives of the study. Researchers have determined that

the young goes through different stages of adolescence in which the individual’s mindset

develops into a more conventional way of thinking that increases the tendencies of conflict

between his parents. Generational differences are the focal factors that make generation gap

prevalent among parent-child relationships. However, studies have shown that these generational

differences between the parents and children are not the only factors to be examined since the

impact on parent-child relationships may be utterly dependent on how the parents and their

children respond and deal with this gap. This understanding suggests that the responses of the

two sides are both the cause and effect of generation gap.
 Generation Gap 11

CHAPTER II

Methodology

Research Design

A descriptive research method is used in this study to determine the impacts of generation

gap on parent-child relationships wherein quantitative and qualitative data will be collected. The

quantitative data gathered will be utilized to investigate and examine large-scale patterns of

behavior among parents and their children with regards to the existence of generation gap in their

home environment. This organized empirical analysis of the social phenomenon, generation gap,

via statistical investigation, will be carried out through surveys and the deconstruction of the

respective data to represent the quantitative portion of the study. Moreover, the qualitative data

collected from interviews that will yield results manifesting the different perspectives of the

participants which also corresponds to the substantial field, will be used to examine parent-child

interactions and relationships. This method applies an interpretative structure attempting to

understand the perceptions of both sides, which in this case are the parents and their children.

Participants and Sampling Technique

The respondents of this study will be classified into two categories as parents and

adolescents. The junior high school students of Universidad de Zamboanga, which are identified

in this study as the adolescents, as well as their respective parents, will serve as the chosen

respondents. Purposive sampling, an approach intentionally selected according to the needs of

the study, will be utilized since two particular groups, the parents and the adolescents, are the

main targets. These junior high school students, along with their parents, prove eligibility as

respondents given that this study focuses on the impacts of generation gap to parent-child

relationships in the adolescence stage and they coincide with the set of specifications essential to
 Generation Gap 12

the credibility of the data to be gathered. Subsequently, stratified random sampling will then be

employed to be able to select respondents from the different year levels. This type of sampling

entails dividing an entire population into homogeneous subgroups and using simple random

sampling to select the participants from each subgroup which will yield data more representative

of the entire population, generating largely unbiased results. A total of 28 sections constitute the

entire junior high school population of Universidad de Zamboanga, which consists of 7 sections

per year level. The selection of two respondents in every section will be conducted through

simple random sampling in the form the fishbowl technique, in which each student of every

section corresponds to a particular number. Two random numbers are then generated and the

students represented by those numbers are included in the sample. There will be a total number

of 112 respondents consisting of 56 student-respondents and 56 parent-respondents. The number

of selected respondents suggests more representations of the junior high school population then

indicating generally more unbiased results and more accurate data.

Research Instruments

In order to answer the research questions of this study, a survey questionnaire and

interviews will be used as the primary data-gathering instruments. The survey questionnaire will

be administered to a total of 112 respondents. This questionnaire contains two sections: fixed-

alternative and open-ended (See Appendix A and B). In the fixed-alternative section, alternatives

are given from which the respondents are to choose. Among the choices, only one answer is

being asked of the respondents. On the other hand, open-ended type of questions gives the

respondents the freedom to respond without restricted range of alternatives in which respondents

are asked to answer the questions freely and spontaneously. The first part of the survey contains

the personal information of the respondents in which they are to indicate their name (optional),
 Generation Gap 13

section, age, and sex. Furthermore, the second part of the survey consists of two sets depending

on which category the respondents belong to: parents and/or children. The questions of both sets

are on the subject of generation gap and how this gap is evident and prevalent in the home

environment. Further questions center on the factors of the said gap and the differing responses

of the respondents with regards to the conflicts the existing gap results in. These questions are

provided with choices from which the respondents are to choose. Two open-ended questions are

left at the last part of the survey in which the respondents are to express their ideas freely without

restricted range of alternatives. Moreover, the interview questions delve into the perceptions of

both sides regarding generation gap and how it affects their relationship with one another (See

Appendix C). The parents and the adolescents are to answer the same set of questions to

guarantee impartiality.

Data Gathering Procedure

Once the respondents are selected, the survey questionnaire will then be administered to

the students and collected the following day. The survey questionnaire for their parents will also

be given out to the students and they are to take the questionnaire home and give these to their

parents. As for the interviews, letters of permission will be handed out to two selected students

and their respective parents (See Appendix C). Three to five-minute interviews will be held the

following day to be able to gather further first-hand information regarding the impacts of

generation gap in their own home environment. The interview consists of three questions that

focus on the different perspectives of parents and children regarding generation gap and how

these affect parent-child relationships. A recorder will be utilized in the entire duration of the

interview to be able to obtain clear and precise responses from the interviewees.
 Generation Gap 14

Data Analysis

After the survey and interviews are conducted, the data gathered will then be examined

and analyzed so as to obtain favorable and unbiased results. The survey data collected will be

tallied and statistically evaluated in order to identify the common results and describe the

perspective of both the parents and their children. Comparisons and similarities in the results

obtained will be explored. Audio files from the interviews, on the other hand, will be transcribed,

collated and analyzed as well. A total of four files will be gathered and transcribed.
 Generation Gap 15

References

Deal, J. (2007). Retiring the generation gap: How employees young and old can find

common ground. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Horrocks, J. (1962). The psychology of adolescence: Behavior and development. Cambridge,

MA: The Riverside Press.

Jersild, A. T., Brook, J. S., & Brook, D. W. (1978). The psychology of adolescence (3rd ed.).

New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Company.

Luo, L. (2001). Investigation and analyis of parent-child relationship in adolescence. Journal of

Cambridge Studies, 5(2-3), 87-97. Retrieved from http://journal.acscam.org.uk/

data/archive/2010/201002-article9.pdf

Mead, M. (1970). Culture and commitment: A study of the generation gap. Garden City, NY:

Natural History Press.

Offer, D. (1969). The psychological world of teen- ager: A study of normal adolescent boys.

New York, NY: Basic Books Publishers.

Perveen, K., Usman, N., & Aftab, R. (2013). Interaction pattern and generation gap between

offspring and parents. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business,

5(1). Retrieved from http://journal-archieves32.webs.com/886-899.pdf

Rodigina, N., & Saburova, T. (2012). Fathers and sons: Generation gaps in history of imperial

Russia. Padova University Press Journal, 1, 121-143. Retrieved from http://www.inter

disciplinary.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/saburova-paper.pdf

Shapiro, A. (2004). Revisiting the generation gap: Exploring the relationships of parent/adult-

child dyads. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 58(2), 127-146.

Retrieved from http://www.jwalkonline.org/docs/Grad%20Classes/OA%20YA/articles/

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differences%20in%20reporting%20relationship.pdf

Thang, L. L. (2001). Generations in touch: Linking the old and the young in a Tokyo

neighborhood. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.