Representations of Grandparents in Children's Books in Britain, Italy, Greece, Finland, and Poland

Abstract

Grandparenthood is changing rapidly in different societies. Assumptions about the roles and potential of grandparents may not be keeping pace. Children learn and develop attitudes toward grandparents in part through media representations. Study 1 explores how grandparents are depicted in children's books: 149 images (87 grandmothers, 62 grandfathers) were obtained from children's picture books in Britain, Italy, and Greece. Content analysis suggests a homogeneous image of grandparents. Seventy percent of grandfathers and 59% of grandmothers have gray/white hair. More than 50% of grandparents are in sedentary physical activities: sitting, standing, lying in bed, and reading. Study 2 investigates whether the apparent age of grandparents in children's books differs by gender, nationality, or year of book publication in Britain, Italy, Greece, Finland, and Poland. Twelve adults in Britain and Italy and 10 adults in Finland estimated the age of each grandparent figure (from 40–44 years old to 90+). In every country, grandfathers were rated as significantly older than grandmothers. Grandparents are significantly older in Greek books than in British books and are significantly older in Polish books than in Finnish books. In Britain, Italy, Greece, and Finland, grandparents in children's books are older than the estimated average age of grandparents with young grandchildren. Implications of these media representations are discussed.

Keywords:

• grandparents
• children's books
• media representations
• grandchildren
• aging

Notes

The present study is part of a research program, the RTN project, “Grandparenthood and Intergenerational Relationships in Aging European Populations” funded under the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Commission (contract number HPRN-CT-2001-00223).