found that adults of all
ages identified and interacted with one another at various social
events, including at Deaf clubs which meet several times a week.15 A similar phenomenon was found in east coast Deaf
clubs." Younger members of the Deaf community often treat
older Deaf adults as role models and wise leaders.17
Chinese culture also has a long tradition of honoring the
elderly. In the two thousand years preceding 1949, the practice
of ancestor worship and the Confucian values of filial piety and
respect for the old prevailed, endorsed by the government.18 In
1949, when the Communist Party took over leadership of the
state, official attitudes temporarily changed. The Communist
leaders banned Confucianism, religious practice, and ancestor
worship because they felt that these practices might threaten
the expansion of state and party power.19
One might have expected this change of policy to harm the
status of the elderly and the positive expectations about aging
in China; however, the Chinese people still speak of advanced
years with pride.20 Even though the original Communist leaders did not expect the position of elders to remain strong, "the
Communist Revolution has strengthened rather than weakened traditional views of old age."21
In the United States, from an early age deaf individuals are
not exposed to the conversation that is the background of ordinary hearing life, in part because 90 percent of deaf people are
born to hearing parents who usually do not communicate by
sign language." The deaf also cannot listen to the radio and
until the implementation of recent technological advances were
rarely able to understand the dialogue and narrative of television and movies. One advantage of such isolation may be
reduced exposure to negative stereotypes about aging.
In the three cultures (mainland Chinese, American Deaf,
and hearing American) we measured the following three
hypotheses: (1) The Chinese and hearing-impaired American
cultures hold more positive views of aging than does the hearing mainstream American culture. (2) Young subjects in each
culture perform similarly on the memory tests, whereas the
elder Chinese and American Deaf participants outperform the
elder hearing American group. (3) There is a relationship
between positive views toward aging and better memory performance found among the older subjects.
We selected thirty participants from each culture. Half the
members of these three groups consisted of young adults (aged
15 to 30 years; mean = 22 years), and half consisted of elderly
adults (aged 59 to 91 years; mean = 70 years). We selected fiftynine years as the starting age for the old group because in
China, most women retire by the age of fifty-five and most
men retire at the age of sixty;23 in addition, age fifty-nine is
about when people in the hearing-impaired community begin
to attend social events planned for older adults.24 We matched
subjects in the three cultures by years of education, socioeconomic status, and age.
In the United States, experimenters recruited all participants from the Boston area. We recruited the fifteen younger
hearing individuals from youth organizations and the fifteen
older hearing participants from a senior drop-in center. We
recruited the fifteen younger Deaf individuals from a Deaf cultural organization and the fifteen Deaf elderly from a senior
drop-in center. In China, interviewers recruited the thirty sub jects from a pencil factory located in the western district of
Beijing. The fifteen younger subjects were currently working at
the pencil factory, and the fifteen older subjects returned to the
factory once a month to collect their pension checks.
To test memory, we showed subjects photos of elderly individuals whom they were told they would one day meet. For the
hearing sample, each photo was presented for five seconds, the
experimenter read a passage about an activity involving the photographed person (e.g.,
ages identified and interacted with one another at various social
events, including at Deaf clubs which meet several times a week.15 A similar phenomenon was found in east coast Deaf
clubs." Younger members of the Deaf community often treat
older Deaf adults as role models and wise leaders.17
Chinese culture also has a long tradition of honoring the
elderly. In the two thousand years preceding 1949, the practice
of ancestor worship and the Confucian values of filial piety and
respect for the old prevailed, endorsed by the government.18 In
1949, when the Communist Party took over leadership of the
state, official attitudes temporarily changed. The Communist
leaders banned Confucianism, religious practice, and ancestor
worship because they felt that these practices might threaten
the expansion of state and party power.19
One might have expected this change of policy to harm the
status of the elderly and the positive expectations about aging
in China; however, the Chinese people still speak of advanced
years with pride.20 Even though the original Communist leaders did not expect the position of elders to remain strong, "the
Communist Revolution has strengthened rather than weakened traditional views of old age."21
In the United States, from an early age deaf individuals are
not exposed to the conversation that is the background of ordinary hearing life, in part because 90 percent of deaf people are
born to hearing parents who usually do not communicate by
sign language." The deaf also cannot listen to the radio and
until the implementation of recent technological advances were
rarely able to understand the dialogue and narrative of television and movies. One advantage of such isolation may be
reduced exposure to negative stereotypes about aging.
In the three cultures (mainland Chinese, American Deaf,
and hearing American) we measured the following three
hypotheses: (1) The Chinese and hearing-impaired American
cultures hold more positive views of aging than does the hearing mainstream American culture. (2) Young subjects in each
culture perform similarly on the memory tests, whereas the
elder Chinese and American Deaf participants outperform the
elder hearing American group. (3) There is a relationship
between positive views toward aging and better memory performance found among the older subjects.
We selected thirty participants from each culture. Half the
members of these three groups consisted of young adults (aged
15 to 30 years; mean = 22 years), and half consisted of elderly
adults (aged 59 to 91 years; mean = 70 years). We selected fiftynine years as the starting age for the old group because in
China, most women retire by the age of fifty-five and most
men retire at the age of sixty;23 in addition, age fifty-nine is
about when people in the hearing-impaired community begin
to attend social events planned for older adults.24 We matched
subjects in the three cultures by years of education, socioeconomic status, and age.
In the United States, experimenters recruited all participants from the Boston area. We recruited the fifteen younger
hearing individuals from youth organizations and the fifteen
older hearing participants from a senior drop-in center. We
recruited the fifteen younger Deaf individuals from a Deaf cultural organization and the fifteen Deaf elderly from a senior
drop-in center. In China, interviewers recruited the thirty sub jects from a pencil factory located in the western district of
Beijing. The fifteen younger subjects were currently working at
the pencil factory, and the fifteen older subjects returned to the
factory once a month to collect their pension checks.
To test memory, we showed subjects photos of elderly individuals whom they were told they would one day meet. For the
hearing sample, each photo was presented for five seconds, the
experimenter read a passage about an activity involving the photographed person (e.g.,
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