Impact of an Intergenerational Book Club on Cross-Generational Attitudes: A Mixed-Methods Study

ABSTRACT

This mixed-methods study explores the impact of an intergenerational book club, Pages Across Ages, on cross-generational attitudes between older adults and college-aged students. Amidst growing concerns over ageism and demographic shifts, the study investigates how structured dialogue around selected literary works can facilitate understanding and empathy across generations. Pages Across Ages comprised weekly in-person and virtual meetings to discuss Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds, a novel selected for its potential to foster point-driven conversation about relevant issues across the age continuum. Employing a combination of qualitative and quantitative measures, including the Aging Semantic Differential scale, the study reveals significant shifts in attitudes post-participation. Qualitative data from focus groups corroborate these findings, highlighting themes of mutual learning, changing perspectives, and social justice discussions as a result of intergroup contact. This research underscores the potential of book clubs, which have a rich history in America for their ability to act as vehicles for social change, as platforms for fostering intergenerational engagement and addressing age-related prejudices.

KEYWORDS:

• Intergenerational relationships
• ageism
• social justice
• book clubs
• cross-generational dialogue

Introduction

In mid-November of 2022, the United Nations announced that the total global population had surpassed the 8 billion mark (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs [DESA]). The announcement of this striking milestone was accompanied by analyses of specific demographic shifts, which illustrate a disproportionate increase in older individuals aged 65 and above (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2022a). Despite an overall decline in the rate of total population, the growth of the 65+ age cohort shows no evidence of slowing down, with current models projecting continued expansion as a proportion of the total population from 10% in 2022 to 16% by 2050 (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2022b). Within three decades, the global 65 and older population is expected to be two times larger than the population of children below age 5, and about on par with the population of children below age 12 (UN DESA, 2022b).

Perhaps most striking is the increase in overall longevity that is predicted to drive the largest population surge among the “oldest adults” aged 85–99 in developed countries (Prince et al., 2015). A column published by VoxEU’s Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) described the effect of decreasing birth rate and increasing longevity as the “most pervasive and dominant demographic trend of the 21st century” (2023). Renowned economists Ranier Kotschy and David Bloom warn that a global society “which classifies old age the same for every generation, ignores advancements in functional capacity in terms of mortality, disability, strength, and cognition wrought by healthy ageing” (2023). The authors provide a compelling argument regarding ways the aging demographic shift necessitates a recalibration in policy discussions and societal conversations to better support the evolving needs of this growing population segment (Kotschy & Bloom, 2023). Put more simply, as the median age worldwide continues to rise, then so must the attention and priority given to the unique challenges and issues faced by older adults.

Ageism, defined as the negative attitudes and stereotypes targeted at the elderly based solely on their age, is one such challenge that remains particularly pervasive (Butler, 1969). In a startling revelation, Henry et al. (2023) discovered that even older adults themselves can harbor prejudices against their similarly aged peers. In an age where individuals have become more proactive in amplifying the voices of underrepresented, marginalized, or stigmatized groups, the American Psychological Association recently dubbed ageism “the last socially acceptable prejudice” (Weir, 2023). New weight must be given to toxic and misguided beliefs that aging is synonymous with deterioration and decline in light of novel studies put forth by sociologists and psychologists, which indicate that stereotypes are not as external to individuals or groups as the old “sticks and stones” adage might imply. Indeed, groundbreaking studies on the “stereotype embodiment theory” reveal the ways in which stereotypes can consciously and subconsciously pervade an individual’s self-perception. The prejudices and opinions may assimilate from a surrounding culture to manifest themselves in the individuals they target in measurable ways, constituting functional declines psychosocially, cognitively, and physically (Levy, 2009). Gerontologists have warned that impacts of stereotypes have been found to be especially insidious among older individuals, as their internalization “constitute(s) a process that occurs in two directions: top-down (from society to the individual) and over time (from childhood to old age) (Levy, 2009).

As the global demographic footprint of the 60+ age cohort continues to grow, so also do efforts to mitigate ageist cultural views that overgeneralize, marginalize, or misrepresent older adults’ lived realities. One such initiative that shows promise is increasing opportunities for interaction between younger and older adults. Interactions between the younger and older generations are currently restricted in many contexts (Zhaoyang et al., 2018). A poignant example of this is the limited engagement nursing home residents have with the youth (Muszalik et al., 2021). Although family ties, particularly interactions among grandparents and grandchildren, serve as common points of intergenerational contact, many older adults express the desire for increased interactions with younger individuals outside their family units (Muszalik et al., 2021). The efficacy of intergroup contact as a vehicle for improving understanding among groups with antagonistic biases was the focus of an extensive 2008 meta-analysis of 515 empirical studies that involved a quarter of a million participants globally (Pettigrew & Tropp). Researchers demonstrated that intergroup contact which facilitated increased knowledge and empathy had a statistically significant impact in reducing varied prejudices in 94% of the studies examined (Meleady et al., 2019, Pettigrew & Tropp, 2008).

Intergroup contact has been a historically reliable tool for mitigating prejudices of many different types. More recent research has explored the potential benefits of such contact to foster comity among younger and older adults. In 2003, Elza Souza introduced a framework for analyzing impacts of intergenerational contact in particular, called Social Learning, Dialogical and Reflective Theory (SDRT). SDRT synthesizes theories of social learning, social change, and critical dialogue as a lens to examine, “guided activities promoting social contact (exposure) between elderly and young people.” In a subsequent study, Souza employs the SDRT methodological framework to demonstrate how intergenerational exposure via dialogue, reflection, and critical thinking about discriminatory beliefs could improve cross-generational perspectives” (DeSouza, 2007). More recent studies of intergenerational programming with a focus on fostering high quality interactions between older and younger participants have demonstrated similar benefits (Jang, 2020; Neils-Strunjas et al., 2020; Taylor et al., 2020). For example, Jang (2020) reported mutual benefits in an intergenerational choir involving older adults and music therapy students. Similarly, Taylor et al. (2020) discussed the benefits of Bingocize, a program that integrates physical activity and Bingo, noting that it fostered meaningful intergenerational connections. Despite the body of research on intergenerational programs, there exists a lack of studies focusing on book clubs as a context for intergenerational conversation and extra-familial interaction (Dunne & Goode, 2004).

Community-based, social, occupational, and topical varieties of non-scholastic literacy programs have as rich a tradition in the United States as music or sports in creating cultural common ground for individuals from different walks of life. In fact, in her 2005 book Reading Oprah: How Oprah’s Book Club Changed the Way America Reads, Cecilia Konchar Farr credits book clubs as a major force used to shape the idea of what it meant to be “American” in the early twentieth century. In 1926, New York entrepreneur Harry Scherman, started the Book-of-the-Month Club by soliciting members from elite. However, a drive for inclusion and upward mobility caused the number of subscribers to the first nationalized book club to grow twenty-fold in less than two years, encompassing subscribers of varied gender, ethnicity, class, age, and color. Farr states, “Not just educated businessmen and professionals, but secretaries and homemakers, immigrants and workers turned to the club’s program of self-improvement and cultural literacy,” in illustrating the historical (and modern) potential for intergroup contact among diverse groups of Americans.

Book clubs continue to serve as a space for Americans to practice “adult literacy learning through the lens of social and cultural relationships, especially in the way that learners draw upon events from their ordinary lives to construct meaning within the communities in which they live” (Taylor, 2006). In contrast with academically-affiliated book clubs that tend to focus on form or literary conventions, modern American book clubs are much more likely to be “point-driven” gatherings where members have “transactional” discussions that help them construct themes or larger symbols in a text alongside their own lived stories (Addington, 2001; Beach & Yussen, 2011).

Thus, book clubs offer an effective means of addressing various forms of bias and discrimination (Dunne & Goode, 2004), making them a potentially powerful tool for breaking down generational and cultural barriers (Farr, 2004). In this study, we investigate how an intergenerational book club (which may hereafter be referred to by its more marketable name “Pages Across Ages”) can influence attitudes and catalyze discussions on important societal issues between older adults and college students. Our research addresses the following questions:

1. Do book club participants experience positive emotions following their engagement?

2. Can an intergenerational book club alter perceptions and attitudes between older adults and college students?

3. What range of topics, particularly those related to social justice, emerge in intergenerational book club discussions?

Methods

Ethical considerations

This study was approved by a University Institutional Review Board (IRB Study #00110677). All ethical parameters established at the time of approval have been followed to ensure the safety and confidentiality of all participants.) All participants were provided with a written letter of informed consent prior to participation.

Participants

In light of the aforementioned biomedical, sociocultural, and demographic shifts, new discussions have emerged around the age at which an individual is classified as an “older adult” or a “younger adult.” The Pages Across Ages intergenerational book club at the heart of the present study defined the “older adult” cohort as those 60 years of age and older. Our “younger adult” participant group fell within the range of 18–24 years old, which reflects the typical age of traditional college students at the southeastern university where the project was based. The younger participant age range of 18–24 represents a contrast between our study and studies that focus on interactions among older adults and significantly younger adolescents or children (Lee et al., 2019) This young adult age range is also posited as a season of life in which young adults encounter many of life’s important “milestones” which transcend generations and, in so doing, foster renewed contexts for conversation (Brubaker & Brubaker, 1999).

Older adults

A total of 23 older adults participated in this study. Inclusion criteria included:

1. Being at least 60 years old

2. Adequate literacy skills

3. Willingness to complete weekly book club readings

4. Commitment to participate in weekly book club meetings for 8 weeks

This study utilizes findings from a Pages Across Ages book club meetings that took place across the fall of 2021 and the fall of 2022. Figures 1–4 models the frequency distribution for older participants’ ages (Figure 1a) alongside distribution of younger participant’s ages (Figure 1b), while Figure 2 provides a visualization of the racial composition and education levels of all participants in the specified intergenerational book club chapter.

Figure 1. Frequency distribution of age in years for (a) older participants and (b) younger participants.

Figure 2. Percentages of all pages across ages participants by race.

Figure 3. Percentages of all pages across ages participants by level of education.

Figure 4. Percentages of all pages across ages participants by gender.

Descriptive statistics are reported in Table 1 for key demographics regarding age, race, gender, and education levels of all book club participants (both older and younger cohorts).

Table 1. Descriptive statistics for demographics of older participants (n = 23) and younger participants (n = 10).

Metric	Statistics
	Older Adults
# of 60+ participants	23
Age	M = 71.43 ± 8.6
Gender	Female: 20, Male: 3
Race	White: 14, Black: 9
Education Level	Less than high school: 1, Some college: 4, Associate’s: 3, Bachelor’s: 8, Master’s: 5, PhD: 2
	Younger Adults
# of 18–24 yr. old participants	10
Age	M = 20.7 ± 1.45
Gender	Female: 9, Male: 1
Race	White: 8, Asian: 2
Education Level	Some college: 10*
Total Participants	33

The “Some College” education level encompassed all members of the young adult cohort.

Recruitment

Older adults were recruited through flyers, social media marketing and partnerships with local community centers. Younger adults were also recruited through flyers posted on campus and ads on social networking platforms, in addition to university e-mail list-servs. As an incentive, older adults received a $10 gift card, while younger adults were offered a $100 gift card (an increase which reflects an identified need to increase compensation and therefore participant recruitment among the younger age group). As will be further addressed in the limitations and future directions section, this recruitment strategy could be optimized in future iterations to mitigate the risk of bias inherent in the self-selection of participants among populations demonstrating an openness to engaging in community-based activities or university research studies.

Book club description

The intergenerational book club was established in collaboration with the Communication Sciences and Disorders (COMD) department and the Social Work department at a public university. The Pages Across Ages project spanned two consecutive fall semesters, each featuring two book club chapters with between 5–12 members total. The distribution of participants achieved balanced groups in regard to age composition with 3–4 college students and 5–8 older adults each (a consistently higher proportion of older adults across groups noted due to greater availability and interest compared to young adult participants.) Participants joined the book club according to the location that was most convenient for them, which lead to formulation of mixed-age groups of manageable size without need for subdivision by facilitators to adjust or reduce numbers.

When selecting the book, an advisory council which included a librarian, social worker, and leader in the field of gerontology solicited suggestions from their respective circles and then met several times to deliberate. They narrowed down potential texts largely based on the diversity of themes. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah was selected as it chronicled a full spectrum of relatable human experiences across the lifespan (Hannah, 2021). Set amidst the backdrop of national crisis that was the Great Depression, the novel provides rich potential space for conversation across the age continuum as it blends coming of age themes like first love and leaving home alongside the joys and sorrows of parenting and the ways that socioeconomic hardship particularly impacts individuals of more advanced age. At the beginning of each book club session, attendance was taken to track participant engagement and monitor for subject attrition. The sessions were structured by a script that included “icebreaker” questions to build rapport and offer members a way to relate to one another by sharing responses to questions such as “If you could live anywhere besides Columbia, SC, where would you want to live and why?” These types of questions served as a context for participants to share as much as they wished about their own life stories and circumstances. Following the collaborative reading of synopses for the assigned week’s chapters, this shared personal discourse was often recalled or otherwise factored into responses to subsequent topical questions such as: “Which character do you relate to the most and why?”

The book selected was also chosen for its potential to invoke reflection on social justice issues and societal challenges navigated by the novel’s diverse set of characters. The setting of the Great Depression provided a historical context rich in themes of resilience and adversity, while also being distanced enough in time to allow for reflective discussion on some social justice issues of class, immigration/migration, ethnicity, gender, and ability without overly graphic or disturbing elements that had a higher potential for provoking distress or discord. While no specific ground rules were established beforehand for administration of the Pages Across Ages meetings, all facilitators were either trained social workers, seasoned speech-language pathologists, or graduate assistants enrolled in a clinical training program governed by the standards the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). The facilitation of these discussions was informed by ASHA’s ethics, emphasizing cultural responsiveness and the importance of facilitating inclusive communication across diverse perspectives.

All facilitators were adept at navigating complex communication dynamics and valuing each participant’s contribution. Facilitators of Pages Across Ages meetings intervened minimally, allowing open-ended discussions to unfold organically. However, occasionally they facilitated opportunities for more reticent group members to speak. It seems reasonable to assume that many book club participants – having been recruited from university and community center settings – might have had some degree of familiarity with, or exposure to, the general etiquette or cooperative expectations inherent in literary circles. In the democratic environment created within our book club meetings, participants were empowered to steer the conversation in directions that resonated most with them. Of course, this resulted in compelling discussion, emotional reflections, and some thematic debate, but no instances of conflict involving insensitivity, offense, or incivility that were discovered via post-hoc analysis of transcribed discussions.

Discussions surrounding salient social justice issues were typically initiated by older participants, who often drew upon a wealth of firsthand experiences to make poignant connections between the book’s events and broader societal concerns. In illustration, one such instance occurred when an older reader discussed the hardships faced by family overcoming extraordinary challenges, including poverty and disenfranchisement, as sharecroppers. On another occasion, a younger reader was uncertain of how older members might react to her mentioning that she was raised by a single mother. She reflected, “I wasn’t sure how an older generation would look on that. But, I mean, a couple of times, they would say like, ‘Wow, your mom sounds like Superwoman.’ I was like, ‘I know!’ So, I think they were more open than I expected.” Other older readers shared their own stories of rebellion against societal norms and familial expectations, which often dictated early marriage and parenthood. Instead, they forged paths toward post-secondary education and self-betterment. This organic emergence of social justice topics within the book club context underscores the unique contributions of older members, who may offer nuanced perspective on the many issues they have experienced firsthand, and a readiness to accept and acknowledge the ones they have not.

The final 10 minutes of each session were dedicated to logistical details, including a brief tutorial on using Zoom for upcoming virtual meetings and clarifying the reading assignments for the next session. Meetings alternated between in-person meetings at four locations throughout the community and virtual sessions on Zoom as reported in Table 2.

Table 2. Pages across ages virtual and in-person meeting schedule spanning 10 weeks.

Week	Location
Participant pre-testing	In-Person
Week 1	In-Person
Week 2	Zoom
Week 3	In-Person
Week 4	Zoom
Week 5	In-Person
Week 6	Zoom
Week 7	In-Person
Week 8	Zoom
Participant post-testing	In-Person

Data collection

The initial in-person meeting of Pages Across Ages was dedicated to member orientation, distribution of copies of the text, and the completion of paper-based pre-testing items. Specifically, the “younger adult” cohort, aged 18–24, completed the Aging Semantic Differential (ASD) scale (Polizzi, 2003), which was scored by researchers post-session. This scale served as our sole quantitative measure for gauging perceptions held by the younger participants toward the 60+ cohort of readers. While the ASD scale quantitatively measured the younger adults’ views toward the older participants, qualitative insights were obtained via focus group dialogs to capture a bidirectional perspective on how each age group’s perceptions may have evolved through their engagement in the book club. This mixed-methods approach underscored the complexity of attitudinal changes, highlighting the project’s contribution to understanding intergenerational dynamics.

Focus groups took place approximately 1–3 weeks following the completion of reading discussion activities. Researchers moderated these sessions utilizing neutrally worded questions to ensure group discussion would largely remain within the bounds of the study’s objectives. There was no directive that moderators adhere strictly to the general questions as a predetermined script. Rather, these questions were intended to create an environment where group conversation could develop naturally, while not deviating significantly from the topics of interest. Collaborative review of transcribed focus group recordings included critical assessment for any inadvertent instances of leading questioning or bias introduction. This review identified no violations in facilitation techniques judged to have influenced participants’ genuine perspectives on their participation in the intergenerational book club project.

Data analysis

Qualitative data were analyzed through a phenomenological approach. Researchers identified major themes through iterative analysis of transcripts rendered from collected audio recordings. Ours was a mixed methods approach, and so for quantitative measures, the responses of younger participants on the Aging Semantic Differential (ASD) were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics software. The ASD was selected as a primary quantitative measure in this study due to its long-standing and widespread use in varied fields as an instrument that provides a quantifiable measure of attitudes held about older individuals. The ASD, or one of its several iterations, has been regarded as the most commonly used tool for assessing sentiment about older individuals since its 1969 publication (Rosencrantz and McNevin). However, in the fifty years since its introduction, many researchers have sought to address concerns with the use of ageist language within the instrument itself (e.g., “old man”) might create bias in the respondents.

Our intergenerational book club study selected one such update of ASD (Polizzi, 2003), which refined and updated the list of dichotomous adjectives that respondents used to rate their feelings about older individuals to 24-items using phrasing designed to avoid those charged terms that may create bias in test takers. The use of older women in addition to older men as attitudinal targets was another needed innovation that Polizzi addressed in her revised ASD, which was published following careful factorial analysis, normative data interpretation, and establishment of test-retest reliability. Following administration of the ASD to our 10 younger adult participants, a paired samples t-test was employed to compare pre- and posttest scores.

Findings

Analysis of the focus group transcripts yielded several themes that synthesize the experiences and views of both older adults and students participating in the Pages Across Ages intergenerational book club. The focus group transcripts were analyzed by a team of three researchers to identify emergent themes. Themes identified among older adult participants are represented alongside supportive quotations in Table 3. Themes identified via analysis of qualitative data with supportive quotes from younger adult book club participants are reported in Table 4.

Table 3. Identified themes from older adult participant qualitative data with supportive quotations.

Theme	Supportive quotes from older adult participants
Positive sentiments about the future: Older adults expressed optimism about younger generations.	One participant encapsulated this, saying, “I have confidence that going forward, our young people are tuned in … So, I felt, you know, as a senior, our world ain’t hopeless after all.”
Intergenerational learning:Older adults appreciated the reciprocal exchange of wisdom.	A participant mentioned, “It has to be a two-way street to keep an open mind … they need to listen to us, because maybe there’s a nugget of something that our life experiences have that they can take out and use as well.”
Social Justice reflections:Older adults found the book club a safe space to share their perspectives on social justice issues.	For example, one participant stated, “I don’t think we’ve made that much progress. Things have improved, some of them say they haven’t improved. They were covered up.”

Table 4. Identified themes from younger adult participant qualitative data with supportive quotations.

Theme	Supportive quotes from younger adult participants
Changing Perspectives of Older Adults:Initially holding negative stereotypes about older adults, many students found their views dramatically changed.	One student remarked, “It has definitely shifted my view of what I think about them. And I’m now open to work with them in the future.”
Finding Common Ground:Students discovered more commonalities than differences between themselves and the older adults.	As one student shared, “I think the cool thing was to see we all, while they’re a lot older than us, had so much in common.”
Learning from Diverse Perspectives:Students valued the wide range of experiences the older adults brought into discussions.	“It was interesting to hear about that not from like a history book, but people who actually lived it and also escaped – like they ran away from home to attend college,” said one student.

Qualitative Measures

Quantitative measures

A paired samples t-test indicated a significant reduction in students’ negative biases toward older adults after participating in the book club (pre-ASD scores M = 70.5, SD = 25.2; post-ASD scores M = 47.8, SD = 22.0; t(2) = 3.86, p = .002).

Discussion

The Pages Across Ages Intergenerational Book Club provided a valuable platform for older adults to interact with college students regularly. Analysis of focus group transcripts revealed the majority of older adult participants reported limited interactions with younger generations outside of family members like grandchildren. These findings align with existing literature that suggests most older adults primarily interact with family members such as grandchildren (Zhaoyang et al., 2018). Nonetheless, non-familial intergenerational interactions have been shown to be beneficial for the psychological well-being of older adults (Marc Freedman, 2018; Teater et al., 2021).

The results of this study corroborate key findings from prior research on benefits of high-quality intergenerational programs (Greengross, 2003; Jang, 2020; Neils-Strunjas et al., 2020; Taylor et al., 2020). While many intergenerational studies focus on interactions between older adults and younger children (Breda & Watts, 2017), our research uniquely examines a book club’s role in shaping attitudes between older adults and college students. This study is likewise distinct from inquiries into intergenerational contact within the context of nuclear or extended families. Indeed, researcher Kurt Lüscher (2011) credits the recent popularity of extrafamilial intergenerational initiatives in the United States as reaction against the conception of the isolated nuclear family, a general decline of family and kinship, and a one-sided perception of old age stressing the need for support.” Finally, our study includes an outline for the framework, logistical considerations, and delivery methods for implementing such a book club.

Primary research questions

Do participants experience positive emotions from participating in the book club?

Participants unanimously reported experiencing positive emotions, and older adults notably felt optimistic about future generations (Theme 1). These outcomes are consistent with previous research, such as a study by Kim & Lee (2018), which demonstrated similar emotional benefits from a 6-week intergenerational program.

Does the book club impact the attitudes and biases of older adults and college students?

We employed the Aging Semantic Differential scale (Polizzi, 2003) for measuring attitudes, which indicated significant shifts in pre- and post-participation scores. This quantitative data was further substantiated by qualitative themes identified from the focus groups. Prior research supports the observation that intergenerational programs can facilitate improved attitudes toward older adults among younger people (Breda & Watts, 2017, Jang, 2020, Kim & Lee, 2018; Neils-Strunjas et al., 2020, Souza, 2003; Sneed & Chan, 2023). Point-driven book club discussions of major life events ubiquitous among individuals across generations fostered opportunities for readers to “construct their own narratives” in tandem with the stories of differently aged participants as well as the novels fictional characters (Addington, 2001).

The interpersonal power of the stories that both future and present older adults tell themselves and internalize from others regarding the aging process is captured by anti-ageism advocate Margaret Morganroth Gullette (2011), who writes, “Whatever happens in the body, and even if nothing happens in the body, aging is a narrative. Each of us tells her own story. But most of us lack an adequate backstory. Not only my own physiology and my personal life experience but societal influences determine my age autobiography. If I can’t recognize these influences, my aging narrative can be helplessly naïve.”

What subjects, including those related to social justice, emerge in the book club’s discussions?

Themes related to social justice arose organically, particularly from older adults, and extended to topics like racial discrimination and the struggles faced by socially disadvantaged groups. Transcripts from focus groups after the book club sessions corroborated these themes, highlighting a shared experience of mutual learning and bias reduction. Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds was selected in part for its potential to further support conversations around prejudice, the sometimes-painful process of maturing into adulthood, and the passing of intergenerational wisdom and dreams among the families American are born into, as well as the ones they forge for themselves. In “The Four R’s of Intergenerational Relationships: Implications for Practice,” sociologists Timothy and Ellie Brubaker, identify young adulthood as a season of life when “the challenges and joys of marriage, independent residence, employment and adulthood encourage younger generations to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of older generations” (1999). Discourse in the Pages Across Ages meetings supported this assertion, featuring rich point-driven discussions between older and younger readers about the novel’s characterization of intersecting experiences that shape the collective human experience.

Our qualitative and quantitative findings demonstrate that both older adults and students reported benefits such as increased positive emotions, enhanced mutual understanding, and reduced biases toward each other. These outcomes suggest a decrease in levels of potential depression and associated health risks for participants. There is evidence to suggest that educational and social activities may contribute to the prevention of age-related cognitive decline and certain dementias, strengthening the case for the potential benefits of both virtual and in-person book club meetings for intergenerational socialization and learning (Myhre, Mehl, & Glisky, 2016; Teater et al. 2021).

While this study’s findings are promising, it also illuminates avenues for future research. As this is a pilot study, further research with larger and more diverse sample sizes is needed. For example, both male students and older male adults were less inclined to participate. Additionally, this study could be expanded to include pre-, mid-, and post-testing and more concurrently run groups. Importantly, future research could involve more socially isolated older adults, such as those residing in rural areas or nursing homes. Future cycles of Pages Across Ages book club are planned for subsequent semesters to expand the footprint of the project and explore future directions.

In conclusion, this mixed-methods study establishes book clubs as a unique intergenerational initiative capable of increasing positive inter-group sentiment and enhancing perspectives among readers belonging to both older and younger generations. The qualitative analysis reveals the educational potential of such a book club setting, which may prove valuable in bridging generational gaps and fostering ongoing discussions about addressing ageism alongside many other social justice issues such as class, race, and gender. Indeed, societal progress toward navigating these social justice issues depends in part on the continued passing of the conversation torch from one generation to the next, ever-hopeful that reading and listening to the stories of others – as well as telling or recasting our own – might illuminate possible solutions.

Limitations & future directions

There are several limitations in the current study that warrant discussion. First, the researchers acknowledge the potential for participant bias related to the direct administration of surveys by the program facilitators (specifically the inclination of participants to reflect positively on the program). Efforts made to reduce the potential for participant bias include reassurance of anonymity in reported responses to encourage participants to freely share their genuine perspectives without fear of negative repercussions or the need to appease the facilitator. The program facilitators were also trained to present the survey and prompt other feedback in a neutral manner, emphasizing the importance of honesty in improving future iterations of the program.

Some other limitations of this study include small sample size and implications regarding representativeness of the sample size. For example, there was a noted lack of male participants that were recruited in the younger adult cohort. The specific lack of young male participants in our study may be simply reflective of larger demographic trends that note a gap between male and female readers (Auxier et al., 2021). Future Pages Across Ages book club chapters are planned to continue for the subsequent two semesters, and recruitment efforts will focus on increasing our participant pool to encompass readers from across the range of demographic categories

Additionally, efforts are planned to expand the footprint of the project to living facilities such as skilled nursing facilities and assisted living communities in subsequent Pages Across Ages meetings. As noted in multiple reviews and stand-alone studies, adults aging in these settings are frequently more socially isolated than their community-dwelling peers (Boamah et al., 2021; Muszalik et al., 2021). Additional quantitative measures related to cognitive, emotional, and behavioral outcomes for the older participant group will be deployed to further explore the potential impacts of intergenerational book club participation. While these more objective measures are anticipated to paint a more detailed picture of the effects of participation in the Pages Across Ages program for individual participants, a larger-scale experimental study design would be required to reliably determine the broader impacts and implications of implementing a cross-generational program in the form of a book club.

Implementation of an experimental design would be crucial for minimizing preexisting differences between the groups and the bias introduced by self-selection of participants. Participant assignment into two distinct types of book clubs: one comprised of same-aged readers and another consisting of diversely-aged readers is a compelling future direction for the study that would discern whether attitudinal changes can be specifically linked to intergenerational interactions among participants in the heterogenous group versus general effects of participation in the reading of a text which features intergenerational themes. Given current plans to expand the project, design and integration of a service-learning course could enhance participant recruitment in this or alternate future iterations of this study by offering a more sustainable method of engaging participants without the consideration of allocating resources for compensation of subjects.

Contributions to the field

This paper contributes significantly to the field of intergenerational relationships by evidencing that book clubs can serve as effective mediums for reducing ageist biases and enhancing mutual understanding between older adults and individuals in the “young adult” age demographic. It not only extends the conversation surrounding the role of intergenerational associations beyond familial interactions, but also suggests a practical framework for implementing such a program that incorporates a literary circle as its basis, offering insights for community and educational initiatives aiming to bridge generational divides and foster social inclusivity.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This project was a product of the Aging Gracefully Lab, which receives a portion of its funding from the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina.