ABSTRACT The population and age of North American older adults is increasing faster than ever, making it harder for children to form meaningful relationships with them. Thus, programs like the Hamilton Intergenerational Music Program aim to bridge this divide. During this program, children seem to form empathic and cooperative bonds with older adults during their visits to long-term care homes. In this article, I describe a theoretical framework that draws from existing theories in social psychology to not only explain this phenomenon, but to also provide practical suggestions that other facilitators can implement in their intergenerational programs for optimal delivery.

中文翻译：

---

理解移情和合作代际关系：一个新的理论框架

摘要 北美老年人的人口和年龄增长比以往任何时候都快，这使得儿童更难与他们建立有意义的关系。因此，像汉密尔顿代际音乐计划这样的计划旨在弥合这一鸿沟。在这个项目中，孩子们在访问长期护理院时似乎与老年人建立了同理心和合作关系。在这篇文章中，我描述了一个理论框架，它借鉴了社会心理学中的现有理论，不仅可以解释这种现象，还可以提供其他促进者可以在其代际计划中实施以实现最佳交付的实用建议。