Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T04:47:35.131Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evaluative Perceptions of Patronizing Speech Addressed to Institutionalized Elders in Contrasting Conversational Contexts*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Ellen Bouchard Ryan ,
Sheree D. Meredith  and
Grace B. Shantz
Ellen Bouchard Ryan
Affiliation:
McMaster University
Sheree D. Meredith
Affiliation:
McMaster University
Grace B. Shantz
Affiliation:
McMaster University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The interactional environment of institutionalized elders has been described as communication-impaired due to the lack of opportunities for ordinary adult-to-adult conversation. Patronizing speech from caregivers is one form of constraining communication that may frustrate elders within institutions. In this study, 256 adults (randomly assigned to one of 16 experimental conditions) evaluated either a patronizing conversation between a nurse and an elderly woman in a nursing home or a more neutral version of the same conversation. In a complex between-subjects design based on Communication Accommodation Theory, we examined the possible influences on the evaluation of patronizing speech of three manipulations: resident alertness, personal situational topic, and privacy of setting for the conversation. Across all contexts, the nurse using a patronizing speech style was viewed as less respectful and less nurturant than the nurse using the neutral style. The resident was considered less satisfied with the patronizing conversation. The situational topic manipulation yielded main effects for these same variables, with the nurse criticizing a resident about a personal issue being viewed as less respectful and nurturant than the nurse raising a safety issue. Moreover, the resident addressed about a personal issue was rated as less competent than the resident addressed about a safety issue. Situational topic interacted with speech style on only one measure, while resident alertness and privacy had no impact on the negative connotations of patronizing speech.

Résumé

On considère que le milieu d'interaction chez les aînés placés en établissement est entravé sur le plan de la communication en raison des possibilités restreintes de conversations spontanées entre adultes. L'emploi d'un langage condescendant par les prestateurs de soins représente une forme de communication contraignante qui frustre les aînés au sein des établissements. Dans le cadre de cette étude, 256 adultes (placés aléatoirement dans une des 16 conditions expérimentales) ont évalué une conversation condescendante entre une infirmière et une aînée dans une maison de soins infirmiers ou une version plus neutre de cette même conversation. Avec un devis inter-sujet complexe, fondé sur la théorie de l'accommodation de la communication, nous avons étudié les influences possibles sur l'évaluation d'un langage condescendant selon trois contextes: la capacité de réaction mentale d'un résident, un sujet personnel sur une situation particulière, et l'intimité du milieu où se tient une conversation. Dans tous ces contextes, l'infirmière utilisant un langage condescendant était considérée moins respectueuse, voire moins bien éduquée, que l'infirmière utilisant un langage neutre. Il a été établi qu'une conversation condescendante satisfaisait moins le résident. Le contexte de la situation particulière a donné d'importants résultats avec ces mêmes variables. L'infirmière ayant critiqué un résident au sujet d'une question personnelle a été considérée moins respectueuse et bienveillante que l'infirmière soulevant une question de sécurité. De plus, le résident interrogé au sujet d'une question personnelle a été évalué moins compétent que le résident interrogé au sujet d'une question de sécurité. Le contexte de la situation particulière a eu un effet sur le style de conversation dans une seule mesure, tandis que la capacité de réaction mentale d'un résident et l'intimité n'avaient aucun effet sur les connotations négatives d'un langage condescendant

Keywords

CommunicationAttitudesInstitutionalization.Communicationattitudesinstitutionnalisation.
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , Été/Summer 1994 , pp. 236 - 248
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ashburn, G., & Gordon, A. (1981). Features of a simplified register in speech to elderly conversationalists. International Journal ofPsycholinguistics, 8, 7–31.Google Scholar
Avorn, J., & Langer, E. (1982). Induced disability in nursing home patients: A controlled trial. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 29, 397–400.Google Scholar
Baltes, M. (1988). The etiology and maintenance of dependency in the elderly: Three phases of opérant research. Behaviour Therapy, 19, 301–319.Google Scholar
Baltes, M.M., Kindermann, T., Reisenzein, R., & Schmid, U. (1987). Further observational data on the behavioral and social world of institutions for the aged. Psychology and Aging, 2, 390–403.Google Scholar
Berscheid, E. (1977). Privacy: A hidden variable in experimental social psychology. Journal of Social Issues, 33(3), 85–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caporael, L. (1981). The paralanguage of caregiving: Baby talk to the institutionalized aged. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 876–884.Google Scholar
Caporael, L., Lukaszewski, M., & Culbertson, G. (1983). Secondary baby talk: Judgments by institutionalized elderly and their caregivers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 746–754.Google Scholar
Collopy, B. (1988). Autonomy in long term care: Some crucial distinctions. The Gerontologist, 28, 10–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coupland, N., Coupland, J., & Giles, H. (1991). Language, society & the elderly. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Coupland, N., Coupland, J., Giles, H., & Henwood, K. (1988). Accommodating the elderly: Invoking and extending a theory. Language in Society, 17, 1–41.Google Scholar
de Wilde, I., & de Bot, K. (1989). Taal van verzorgenden tegen ouderen in een psychogeriatrisch verpleeghuis (A simplified register in caregivers' speech to elderly demented patients). Tijdschrift voor Gerontologie en Geriatrie, 20, 97–100.Google Scholar
Edwards, H., & Noller, P. (1993). Perceptions of overaccommodation used by nurses in communication with the elderly. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 12, 207–223.Google Scholar
Gibb, H., & O'Brien, B. (1990). Jokes and reassurances are not enough: Ways in which nurses relate through conversation with elderly clients. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 15, 1389–1401.Google Scholar
Giles, H., Fox, S., & Smith, E. (1993). Patronizing the elderly: Intergenerational evaluations. Language & Social Interactions, 26, 129–149.Google Scholar
Giles, H., & Williams, A. (1994). Patronizing the young: Forms and evaluations. International Journal on Aging and Human Development, 39, 33–54.Google Scholar
Gubrium, J.F. (1975). Living and dying at Murray Manor. New York: St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
Harwood, J., Giles, H., Fox, S., Ryan, E. B., & Williams, A. (1993). Patronizing Young and Elderly Adults: Response Strategies in a Community Setting. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 21, 211–226.Google Scholar
Jesion, M., & Rudin, S. (1983). Evaluation of the social model of long term care. Health Management Forum, Summer, 64–80.Google ScholarPubMed
Kane, R., & Caplan, A. (Eds.) (1990). Everyday ethics: Resolving dilemmas in nursing home life. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Kenny, T. (1990). Erosion of individuality in care of elderly people in hospital — an alternative approach. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 15, 1389–1401.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lanceley, A. (1985). Use of controlling language in the rehabilitation of the elderly. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 10, 125–135.Google Scholar
Mac Rae, H. (1990). Older women and identity maintenance in later life. Canadian Journal on Aging, 9(3), 248–267.Google Scholar
McGee, J., & Barker, M. (1982). Deference and dominance in old age: An exploration in social theory. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 15, 247–262.Google Scholar
Nussbaum, J.F. (1990). Communication and the nursing home environment: Sur-vivability as a function of resident-nursing staff affinity. In Coupland, N., Giles, H., and Wiemann, J.M. (Eds.), Communication, health and the elderly (pp. 155–171). Manchester: University of Manchester.Google Scholar
Ripich, D. (1991). Language and communication in dementia. In Ripich, D. (Ed.), Handbook of geriatric communication disorders (pp. 255–284). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.Google Scholar
Rodin, J., & Langer, E.J. (1980). Aging labels: The decline of control and the fall of self-esteem. Journal of Social Issues, 36, 12–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutman, D.L., & Freedman, J.L. (1988). Anticipating relocation: Coping strategies and the meaning of home for older people. Canadian Journal on Aging, 7(1), 17–31.Google Scholar
Ryan, E.B., Bourhis, R.Y., & Knops, U. (1991). Evaluative perceptions of patronizing speech addressed to elders. Psychology and Aging, 6, 442–450.Google Scholar
Ryan, E.B., & Cole, R. (1990). Evaluative perceptions of interpersonal communication with elders. In Giles, H., Coupland, N., and Wiemann, J. (Eds.), Communication, health and the elderly (pp. 172–190). Manchester, England: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Ryan, E.B., Giles, H., Bertolucci, G., & Henwood, K. (1986). Psycholinguistic and social psychological components of communication by and with the elderly. Language and Communication, 6, 1–24.Google Scholar
Ryan, E.B., MacLean, M., & Orange, J.B. (in press). In appropriate accommodation in communication to elders: Inferences about nonverbal correlates. International Journal of Aging and Human Development.Google Scholar
Ryan, E.B., Meredith, S.D., MacLean, M.J., & Orange, J.B. (in press). Changing the way we talk with elders: Promoting health using the Communication Enhancement Model. International Journal of Aging and Human Development.Google Scholar
Ryan, E.B., Orange, J.B., & MacLean, M. (1993). Evaluative perceptions of patronizing speech addressed to alert and confused elders. Paper presented to the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto.Google Scholar
Shadden, B.B. (1988). Interpersonal communication patterns and strategies in the elderly. In Shadden, B. (Ed.), Communication behavior and aging: A sourcebook for clinicians (pp. 182–196). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.Google Scholar
Wahl, H. (1991). Dependence in the elderly from an interactional point of view: Verbal and observational data. Psychology and Aging, 6, 238–246.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed