The associations between narcissistic personality features and intergenerational tension ageism were examined, also, whether these associations were mediated by the dangerous and competitive social worldviews believed to accompany these behaviors. The participants were 818 people from Iran, of whom 382 were male (46.7%) and 436 were female (53.3%). The age range of the participants was from 17 to 66 years, with an average of 30.38 and a standard deviation of 9.58. We used three questionnaires: the short form of the Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory, the Social Worldviews Scale-Revised, and the prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism scale. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between aspects of narcissism (extraverted narcissism, antagonistic narcissism, and neurotic narcissism) and a dangerous and competitive social worldview and prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism and its dimensions. Also, the results showed that aspects of narcissism have strong indirect associations with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism through competitive social worldviews. Based on these results, it can be said that narcissists tend to use social worldviews (dangerous and competitive) to satisfy their needs. Therefore, they choose behaviors that cause tension with the elderly in dealing.

Narcissism

Narcissism is a multidimensional personality construct characterized by excessive self-love, a strong sense of entitlement, and a need for attention and approval (Miller et al., 2011). Trait theory suggests that personality traits are stable (Cervone & Pervin, 2015). Narcissism negatively impacts relationships (Skodal et al., 2014). Even narcissism is linked to a desire for power in couples. (Mohammad Beigi & Zeigler-Hill, 2024; Zeigler-Hill & Mohammad Beigi, 2023). Other characteristics of narcissism include arrogance, dominance, aggression, and cruelty toward others. Narcissism is a set of maladaptive personality traits associated with dysfunctional outcomes (Miller et al., 2021). Dissociation between unconscious feelings of inadequacy and conscious feelings of superiority is a core characteristic of narcissism (Kernberg, 1975). Narcissists are more motivated than others to seek out situations in which they feel proud and to avoid situations in which they might experience humiliation or shame (Robins et al., 2001). Understanding changes and stability in narcissism is important because narcissism has both positive and negative consequences (Orth et al., 2024). Researchers in nonclinical psychology typically view narcissism as a personality trait that everyone possesses to some degree (Junge et al., 2024). According to the triad model of narcissism, the dimensions of narcissism include extraverted, antagonistic, and neurotic narcissism (Miller et al., 2017). Extraverted narcissism leads to fewer interpersonal problems than other narcissistic factors. Antagonistic narcissism includes aspects such as self-importance, exploitation, deceitfulness, entitlement, callousness, and low empathy. This factor encompasses the unpleasant and antisocial aspects of narcissism. Neurotic narcissism is characterized by impaired emotional regulation, hypersensitivity, and a tendency toward shame (Miller et al., 2021).

Prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism

Ageism was first conceptualized and addressed by Butler (1969). Ageism refers to prejudice or discrimination against older people (Butler, 1969). In many countries and cultures around the world, there are negative associations with aging (Ayalon & Tesch-Römer, 2018). Ageism in the modern era takes many forms, such as negative stereotypes, derogatory language, and exclusionary practices and policies that expose older people to harm (Hovey et al,. 2017). Perceived ageism negatively impacts the mental and physical health of older people, leading to reduced life satisfaction and impaired cognitive and physical functioning (Hovey et al., 2017; Barber et al., 2024; Butler, 1969). According to Butler (1980), there are two types of ageism: benign ageism (“as discomfort, anxiety, or fear of aging”) and malignant ageism (“a more destructive form of stereotyping in which older people are described as worthless”). Ageism, like sexism, is a multifaceted prejudice; it includes both benevolent and hostile attitudes toward older people (Cary et al., 2017). The Stereotype Content Model (Fiske et al., 2002) proposes two types of stereotypes and perceptions about older people. According to this model, older people are seen as both warm-hearted (a positive trait) and incompetent (a negative trait) (Cary et al., 2017). Ageism is disproportionately prevalent among different age groups, such as young adults who face negative stereotypes (entitled, inconsiderate, spoiled, incompetent, unreliable, and unstable) and discrimination in employment, housing, and everyday life (Bratt et al., 2018; Chasteen et al., 2020; Francioli & North, 2021). According to the prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism theory of North and Fisk (2012), older people have great power and influence, and they consume and exhaust shared resources. They also have political power and influence, and they participate in youth-specific activities. This creates intergenerational tension between young people and older people because younger people feel that older people have taken their place. Intergenerational tension theory focuses on the role of authoritarian, coercive, conventional, and more controlling beliefs based on “shoulds.” This approach proposes three dimensions of coercion that younger generations are particularly likely to endorse and expect from older people: these dimensions include envy of the position and influence of older people and effectively and actively replacing them, minimizing wasteful consumption of shared resources, and maintaining a symbolic identity appropriate to age (North & Fiske, 2013a). According to the prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism theory, from the perspective of young people, older people should forgo employment, political influence, or the use of certain facilities in favor of younger people and should not participate in activities reserved for younger people (North & Fiske, 2012, 2013b). This conflict of positive and negative stereotypes and views towards older people has been reflected in the emergence of multifaceted definitions of ageism (Levy et al., 2022).

Social Worldview:

Social worldviews are perceptions and beliefs about the world and other people (Goldberg, 2009; Perry et al., 2013). Worldviews are formed through everyday interactions. Factors such as religious and cultural values, early socialization, and personality predict the worldviews that develop (Duckitt & Sibley, 2010). The formation of worldviews involves cognitive processes as well as the use of cognitive models. (Goldberg, 2009). Social worldviews play a crucial role in the formation of ideological attitudes because they serve as important principles that help individuals interpret their experiences in a way that is consistent with their worldview (Duckitt, 2001; Duckitt & Sibley, 2010; Perry et al., 2013). This type of thinking was the basis for a model developed by Duckitt (2001) called the dual process model. Individuals make dual judgments about the “competitiveness” (competitive worldview) and the “dangerousness” (dangerous worldview) of the world around them (Perry et al., 2013). There are two sociopolitical attitudes in the social psychology literature: right-wing authoritarianism (RWA; Altemeyer, 1998) and social dominance orientation (SDO; Pratto et al., 1994). According to the dual-process motivational model, right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation refer to different social worldviews and have distinct motivational patterns and even different social constructs (Duckitt & Sibley, 2010; Duckitt et al,. 2002; Perry et al,. 2013). Individuals with a competitive social worldview tend to develop higher levels of social dominance orientation (SDO), while individuals with a risky social worldview tend to develop higher levels of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA). (Duckitt, 2001; Duckitt & Sibley, 2010). In other words, different perspectives suggest that a competitive worldview predicts SDO and a risky social worldview predicts RWA (Khan et al., 2017).

Personality traits also play an important role in shaping social worldviews. Numerous studies have shown that social worldviews mediate between personality traits and SDO and RWA (Duckitt, 2001; Duckitt et al., 2002; Duckitt & Sibley, 2010; Perry et al., 2013).

Overview and predictions:

The aim of the present study was to examine the possibility that narcissism is associated with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. On the other hand, the aim was to examine the role of social worldview as a mediating variable because social worldviews may play a critical role in understanding many narcissistic attitudes and behaviors. We focused our current efforts on examining whether social worldviews as a moderating variable play a role in the association of narcissism with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. More specifically, we were interested in the possibility that individuals with narcissistic personality traits may have greater prescriptive ageism-intergenerational tension—due to their tendency to perceive the world as a highly competitive and dangerous environment. The logic behind this prediction was that when we considered the characteristics of narcissists mentioned above and, on the other hand, we considered the relationship between narcissism and social worldviews that have been found in various studies (Beigi & Zeigler-Hill, 2021; Zeigler-Hill et al., 2021; and Mohammad Beigi & Zeigler-Hill, 2021). The idea and hypothesis were put forward that, given the characteristics of narcissists, they are more likely to adopt dangerous and competitive social worldviews because the goals of these two worldviews can be aligned with the goals of narcissists. In principle, we expected that individuals with narcissistic personality traits would be sensitive to signals of dangerous and competitive social worldviews, thereby leading them to pursue their own selfish goals with relatively little concern for using or abusing the resources and assets of the elderly, increasing intergenerational tension.

We formulated the following hypotheses for the present study: 

We expected antagonistic narcissism to be associated with prescriptive intergenerational tension ageism, and its dimensions. Moreover, we expected the associations between antagonistic narcissism and prescriptive intergenerational tension ageism, to be mediated by a highly competitive social worldview and by a highly dangerous social worldview. 

We expected extraverted narcissism to be associated with prescriptive intergenerational tension ageism and its dimensions. Moreover, we expected the associations between extraverted narcissism and prescriptive intergenerational tension ageism, to be mediated by a highly competitive social worldview and by a highly dangerous social worldview.

We expected neurotic narcissism to be associated with prescriptive intergenerational tension ageism, and its dimensions. Moreover, we expected the associations between neurotic narcissism and prescriptive intergenerational tension ageism, to be mediated by a highly competitive social worldview and by a highly dangerous social worldview.

Participants and procedure:

The participants were 818 people from Iran, of whom 382 were male (46.7%) and 436 were female (53.3%). The age range of the participants was from 17 to 66 years, with an average of 30.38 and a standard deviation of 9.58.  The data collection was done online through social media. Participants were contacted, mostly via WhatsApp and Telegram, and the objectives of the research were explained to them. After expressing their consent, a link to the questionnaires (for narcissism, prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism, and social worldviews) designed in Google Forms software was sent to them. The three online self-report questionnaires were carefully translated from the original English version under the supervision of linguists.

Measures

Narcissism scale

The short form of the Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory (Glover et al., 2012; Sherman et al., 2015) was used to assess extraverted narcissism (16 items; e.g., “I get lots of enjoyment from entertaining others” [α = .78]),), antagonistic narcissism (32 items; e.g., “I’m pretty good at manipulating people” [α = .77]), and neurotic narcissism (12 items; e.g., “I feel awful when I get put down in front of others” [α = .71]). Participants were asked to rate their level of agreement with each statement using a scale that ranged from 1 (disagree strongly) to 5 (agree strongly). Based on the present research, Cronbach’s alphas were α = .83 for extraverted narcissism, α = .80 for antagonistic narcissism, and α = .76 for neurotic narcissism.

Dangerous and competitive social worldview

The Social Worldviews Scale-Revised (Perry et al., 2013) was used, a scale with two dimensions: (1) dangerous social worldview (10 items; e.g., “Any day now chaos and anarchy could erupt around us. All the signs are pointing to it” [α = .53]), and (2) competitive social worldview (10 items; e.g., “My knowledge and experience tells me that the social world we live in is basically a competitive ‘jungle’ in which the fittest survive and succeed, in which power, wealth, and winning are everything, and might is right” [α = .54]). Participants were asked to indicate their level of agreement with each item using scales that ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The Cronbach’s alphas based on the present results were α = .66 for the dangerous social worldview, and α = .63 for the competitive social worldview.

The Prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism (North & Fiske, 2013a) scale for measuring prescriptive intergenerational-tension (20 items; e.g., “Doctors spend too much time treating sickly older people” [α = .91]) consists of three subscales: succession, identity, and consumption. This scale focuses on the role of more controlling, “should”-based prescriptive beliefs. Participants were asked to rate their level of agreement with each statement using a scale that ranged from 1 (disagree strongly) to 6 (agree strongly). Items on the scale are averaged to give an overall score of prescriptive stereotype endorsement. In the present research, Cronbach’s alphas for the total prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism scale were (20 items; α = .77).

Data analysis

Our hypotheses were consistent with an indirect effects model, such that the associations that antagonistic, extraverted, and neurotic narcissism had with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism were believed to be explained, at least in part, by social worldviews. This led us to conduct a series of parallel multiple mediation analyses using model 4 of the PROCESS macro developed by Hayes (2022), which uses a bootstrap resampling process that was repeated 10,000 times to generate a 95% percentile bootstrap confidence interval (CI) for each direct and indirect asso¬ciation. More specifically, each aspect of narcissism was entered separately as a predictor of prescriptive ageism-intergenerational tension with risky and competitive worldviews. More specifically, each aspect of narcissism was entered separately as a predictor of prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism in its own parallel multiple mediation analysis with both the dangerous and the competitive worldviews as potential me-diators. This approach allowed us to examine the unique direct and indirect associations that each aspect of narcissism had with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. 

Descriptive statistics and zero-order correlations:

The descriptive statistics and zero-order correlations are presented in Table 1.

As shown in the M-column (table 1), the mean total score of the SCI scale was M = 62.04, SD = 11.37. The means of the subscales "Consumption" (M = 20.67, SD = 4.84), "Succession" (M = 30.40, SD = 6.00), and "Identity" (M = 10.96, SD = 4.97) are given. According to M-column (table 1), the mean scores of intergenerational tensions in women were lower than the mean scores of men in both the total test score and the subscales. Moreover, the means of men and women are given separately for the subscales in Table 1. The correlation coefficient of competitive and dangerous social worldviews with antagonistic narcissism, extraverted narcissism, neurotic narcissism, and prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism and its dimensions was calculated separately for women and men. The results are given in Table 1

Table 1: Intercorrelations and descriptive statistics of study variables

Parallel multiple mediation analyses

The results of the parallel multiple mediation analyses are presented here.

Antagonist narcissism

These analyses revealed that antagonistic narcissism (a1 = 0.27, SE = .02, t = 16.04, p = .00, 95% CI [.24, .31]) had positive significant associations with competitive social worldview. Also, antagonistic narcissism (a2 = -.04, SE = .02, t = -1.98, p = .04, 95% CI [-.07, -.00]) had negative significant associations with dangerous social worldviews. Competitive social worldview (b1 = 0.23, SE = .05, t = 4.31, p = .00, 95% CI [.12, .33]) associations with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. The dangerous social worldview (b2 = -0.21, SE = .05, t = -4.30, p = .00, 95% CI [-.30, .11]) is associated with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. Antagonistic narcissism (c1 = 0.23, SE = .03, t = 7.96, p = .00, 95% CI [.18, .29]) had direct positive significant associations with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism.  Antagonistic narcissism (c1 = 0.30, SE = .03, t = 11.78, p = .00, 95% CI [.25, .35]) had total positive significant associations with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism.  Antagonistic narcissism (b = 0.06, CI [.03, .09]) had positive indirect significant associations with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism through the competitive social worldview. Because this indirect effect is statistically different from zero, as revealed by a 95% bootstrap confidence interval that is entirely above zero. Antagonistic narcissism (b = .01, CI [.00, .02]) was not indirectly associated with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism through the dangerous social worldview. Because this path of influence cannot be claimed as definitively different from zero because the bootstrap confidence interval straddles zero

Extraverted narcissism

These analyses revealed that extraverted narcissism (a1 = 0.25, SE = .03, t = 9.67, p = .00, 95% CI [.20, .30]) had positive significant associations with the competitive social worldview. Extraverted narcissism (a2 = 0.19, SE = .03, t = 7.56, p = .00, 95% CI [.14, .24]) had positive significant associations with dangerous social worldviews. The competitive social worldview (b1 = 0.42, SE = .05, t = 8.51, p = .00, 95% CI [.33, .52]) is associated with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. Dangerous social worldview (b2 = -0.28, SE = .05, t = -5.46, p = .00, 95% CI [-.38, - .18]) associations with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism.

Extraverted narcissism (c1 = -0.04, SE = .04, t = 1.11, p = .26, 95% CI [-.03, .12]), was not direct significant associations with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. Extraverted narcissism (b = -0.10, SE = .04, t = 2.50, p = .01, 95% CI [-.02, .17]) had a total negative significant association with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. Extraverted narcissism (b = .11, CI [.07, .14]) had positive indirect significant associations with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism through the competitive social worldview. Because this indirect effect is statistically different from zero, as revealed by a 95% bootstrap confidence interval that is entirely above zero. Extraverted narcissism (b = -.05, CI [-.08, -.03]) was not indirectly associated with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism through the dangerous social worldview. Because this path of influence cannot be claimed as definitively different from zero because the bootstrap confidence interval straddles zero.

Neurotic narcissism

These analyses revealed that neurotic narcissism (a1 = 0.21, SE = .04, t = 5.75, p = .00, 95% CI [.14, .28]) had positive significant associations with the competitive social worldview. Neurotic narcissism (a2 = 0.03, SE = .04, t = .72, p = .47, 95% CI [-.04, .10]) was not significantly associated with dangerous social worldviews. The competitive social worldview (b1 = 0.44, SE = .05, t = 9.19, p = .00, 95% CI [.35, .54]) is associated with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. The dangerous social worldview (b2 = -.26, SE = .05, t = 5.34, p = .00, 95% CI [-.36, -.17]) is associated with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. Neurotic narcissism (c3 = -0.03, SE = .05, t = -.52, p = .60, 95% CI [-.13, .07]) was not directly significantly associated with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. Neurotic narcissism (c3 = -0.06, SE = .05, t = 1.13, p = .26, 95% CI [-.04, .17]) was not total significant association with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. Neurotic narcissism (b = .09, CI [.05, .14]) had positive indirect significant associations with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism through the competitive social worldview. Because this indirect effect is statistically different from zero, as revealed by a 95% bootstrap confidence interval that is entirely above zero. Neurotic narcissism (c3 = -.01, CI [-.03, .01]) was not indirectly associated with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism through the dangerous social worldview. Because this path of influence cannot be claimed as definitively different from zero because the bootstrap confidence interval straddles zero.

We found antagonistic narcissism, extraverted narcissism, and neurotic narcissism would be positively associated with a competitive social worldview. We found antagonistic narcissism would be negatively associated with a dangerous social worldview. Furthermore, we found extraverted narcissism would be positively associated with a dangerous social worldview. This pattern is consistent with previous results showing positive associations between grandiose narcissism and social worldviews (Mohammad Beigi & Zeigler-Hill, 2021; Beigi & Zeigler-Hill, 2021; Zeigler-Hill et al., 2021; Mohammad Beigi, 2025).

Antagonistic narcissism

We found antagonistic narcissism was positive significant associations with competitive social worldview.  Also, antagonistic narcissism was negative significant associations with dangerous social worldviews. Antagonistic narcissism was direct positive significant associations with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. Antagonistic narcissism was total positive significant associations with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. Antagonistic narcissism was positive indirect significant associations with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism through the competitive social worldview. competitive social worldview partially mediated the relationship between antagonistic narcissism and prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism.

If we consider the theory of personal importance, according to Webber et al. (2018), they believe the loss of personal importance strengthens extremism. Since young people seek to meet their basic needs, according to the intergenerational tension theory (North & Fiske, 2013a), older people should minimize the consumption of shared resources that are of no benefit to young people. Because imposed and conventional stereotypes are based on consumption based on the principle that older people consume resources passively without any effect or benefit and take the place of young people, and it is not the turn of young people until they are older. Considering the characteristics of narcissistic people and their motivation and goals, since younger people with higher narcissistic characteristics consider older people as an obstacle to satisfying their needs, therefore, in order to compensate for their lost status, these people tend to engage in more tension with older people in competition with them and react to them by choosing stressful and sometimes aggressive behaviors. This intergenerational tension among individuals with narcissistic traits is exacerbated when the attitudes and behaviors of narcissists are influenced by dangerous and competitive social worldviews, given the motivations and goals that these worldviews have.

Extraverted narcissism: 

We found extraverted narcissism was positive significant associations with the competitive social worldview. Extraverted narcissism was positive significant associations with dangerous social worldviews. Extraverted narcissism was total negative significant associations with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. Extraverted narcissism was positive indirect significant associations with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism through the competitive social worldview. competitive social worldview partially mediated the relationship between extraverted narcissism and prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. Given that young narcissists, especially those who score high in competitive and dangerous social worldviews, due to ideological extremism and the goals fostered by this worldview (e.g., the goals of power and dominance that are raised in a competitive worldview), and due to the satisfaction of their narcissistic traits, such as displaying themselves at high levels of self-importance and superiority over others, in all their interactions they seek to advance, promote, and demonstrate their own status and to reduce the status of others, or in some way seek their own exalted status. This has been investigated and proven in various studies, for example (Grapsas et al., 2020; Mohammad Beigi & Zeigler-Hill, 2021). Young people also try to connect more with their peer group and compete and have tension with the elderly in order to benefit from the psychological benefits of group identity, prevent identity threats, protect self-esteem, and stay away from the negative aspects of aging. Naturally, intergenerational tension between young narcissists and the elderly increases with the help of the motivations and goals that competitive and dangerous social worldviews give them. Because in these tensions and conflicts, narcissists try to achieve their desires in any way possible by taking advantage of their own personality traits and by pushing the elderly away from their position and taking their position, status, and prestige for themselves, they achieve the feeling of superiority that is in line with their narcissistic desires and that their competitive and dangerous social worldviews strengthen.

Neurotic narcissism

We found neurotic narcissism neurotic narcissism was positive significant associations with the competitive social worldview.  neurotic narcissism was positive indirect significant associations with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism through the competitive social worldview. competitive social worldview partially mediated the relationship between neurotic narcissism and prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. At the core of grandiose narcissism lies the hierarchical and comparative perspective that characterizes status hierarchies: to see oneself as superior means to see others as inferior; to have special privileges for oneself means to see others as unprofitable (Grapsas et al., 2020). Therefore, according to Integrated Threat Theory and Intergenerational Tension Theory (North & Fiske, 2013a), which state that envy of the position and influence of the elderly and their replacement effectively and actively cause intergenerational tension. It can be said that the problems of youth with the elderly over replacement arise from expectations about enviable resources and social positions. Although middle-aged and elderly people generally have the most social influence, the opportunities of youth more realistically depend on the departure of the elderly. Older people are a threat to the youth group, and this causes tension between them. On the one hand, this tension is certainly greater among narcissists due to their characteristics and sensitivities (due to their status and interests). On the other hand, given the connection between narcissism and dangerous social worldviews and the motivations and goals that these worldviews have, which cause feelings of jealousy and more tension among narcissists, this connection can naturally create and increase intergenerational tension.

The results of this study showed that there is a relationship between aspects of narcissism (extraverted narcissism, antagonistic narcissism, and neurotic narcissism) and a dangerous and competitive social worldview and prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism and its dimensions (succession, identity, and consumption). Also, the results showed that aspects of narcissism have a strong indirect relationship with prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism through competitive social worldviews. Based on these results, it can be said that narcissists tend to use social worldviews (dangerous and competitive) to satisfy their needs. Therefore, they choose behaviors that cause tension with the elderly in dealing with them. Narcissists may consider the elderly as potential competitors in obtaining their own interests and status. As a result, they have more discrimination and prejudice against the elderly in society and even in their own family, and as a result, they have more intergenerational tension with them. Also, considering the characteristics of narcissistic people, it can be speculated that these people are particularly sensitive to signals of competition in their social environments, which in turn leads them to pursue their own selfish and self-interested goals with relatively little concern for the interests or desires of the elderly, and considering their status, this leads them to have more intergenerational tension to gain benefits and satisfy their own selfish desires. 

One limitation of this study was the limited focus on prescriptive intergenerational-tension ageism. It is important that other related issues (such as religious, cultural, social, ethnic, and economic factors) be examined more carefully in future studies. Another limitation of this study was that, due to the design of this study, it was not possible to examine causality between the variables studied. Future studies may provide a better understanding of the causal links between these variables by using experimental manipulations or longitudinal approaches. A third limitation of this study was that we focused exclusively on data collected from self-report questionnaires, which may have biased the responses of participants, which could have affected the results of the study. This study did not receive any specific funding from funding agencies in the government, commercial, or non-profit sectors.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Professor Virgil Zeigler-Hill for his guidance, assistance, and encouragement in writing this article. I also thank Dr. Michael North for using his resources and encouraging the use of the intergenerational tension approach in this article.