Grandparents’ social identities in cultural context

Scholarship on grandparents has noticeably increased in recent years, including international research (Shwalb & Hossain, 2018), yet there has seldom been research on grandparents’ social identities. This paper focuses on variations and commonalities in their social identities, across cultural communities. In the Western world, the processes of individuation and economic practices tend to segregate grandparents from the social mainstream, as ‘ageism’ works insidiously to undercut the importance and status of grandparents. By contrast, in the non-Western world, traditions of gender hierarchy, kinship and property ownership have promoted the higher social status of grandparents within the family and society. Psychological research shows that as family patriarchs and matriarchs, grandparents still maintain a respected authority role, especially in many Asian, African and Latin American societies. Such a respect-based social identity vitalises intergenerational interactions based on inclusion. This paper discusses cultural narratives and research findings’ examples to illuminate the cultural contexts of the two contrasting models (Western and non-Western) of grandparents’ social identities.