PORTRAYALS OF GRANDPARENTS AND GRANDPARENTING STYLES: A CASE STUDY OF FRIEND OF OLD COMRADES

Abstract

This study employed content analysis to examine the portrayals of grandparents' images and their grandparenting roles in Laotongzhi Zhiyou (Friend of Old Comrades). With a current circulation of 480, 000, Friend of Old Comrades is a national monthly magazine in China whose target audiences include retirees, institutions, and governmental agencies engaged in work and services related to the elderly. Articles (N = 195) that feature grandparent-grandchild interactions were chosen from 156 issues--from 1995 to 2007--of the magazine and were content analyzed to uncover images of grandparents and portrayals of grandparenting roles. Results revealed that grandparents were predominantly portrayed as positive, healthy, and respected. In addition, positive age stereotypes such as Perfect Grandparent, Golden Ager, and Honorable Elder were prevalent with very little negative stereotyping (e.g., Impaired Elder, Despondent) found in the majority of the articles. Results also indicated that over half of the articles featuring grandparents and younger grandchildren depicted grandparents as adopting an involved grandparenting style, playing roles such as caregiver, mentor, playmate, and spoiling grandparent. Findings are discussed in light of cultivation theory and prior research on the media portrayal of intergenerational communication in both Eastern and Western cultural contexts.