In the News: Merril Silverstein

Professor of Sociology Merril Silverstein, who studies how infrastructure development is increasingly geared towards an older society in China, says, “Those in more developed villages have less aging anxiety about whether their needs will be met, whether they'll be, you know, happy or not as they get older.”

“Older parents’ perceptions of children's filial piety in rural China: The roles of coresidence, geographic proximity, and intergenerational support,” co-authored by Professor and Chair of Sociology Merril Silverstein, was published in the Chinese Journal of Sociology.

As parents age, “there’s a lot of negotiation and uncertainties,” says Merril Silverstein, Marjorie Cantor Endowed Professor in Aging. “Who has the right to make decisions for stepparents becomes murky.” Such families can experience what’s called “role ambiguity,” he says, creating doubts about “what the social expectations are.”

Merril Silverstein, Marjorie Cantor Endowed Professor of Aging Studies and chair of sociology, has edited and written the introduction for “Aging Families in Chinese Society” (Routledge, 2022), which was recently released in paperback.

"Digital Communication As Compensation for Infrequent In-Person Contact With Grandchildren During the Pandemic," co-authored by Merril Silverstein, professor and chair of sociology, was published in Innovation in Aging.

“Among older people there is a reluctance to project negativity into their future,” says Merril Silverstein, professor and chair of sociology. “There’s research that they tend to put on rose-colored glasses about things like their own aging trajectory so it’s keeping up their ego integrity to want to be independent and stay in their home.”

"Becoming sandwiched in later life: Consequences for individuals’ well-being and variation across welfare regimes," co-authored by Professor and Chair of Sociology Merril Silverstein, was published in The Journals of Gerontology.

Prema Kurien and Janet M. Wilmoth received awards, and several faculty colleagues were elected to roles in the American Sociological Association. 

"Did Gender Egalitarianism Weaken Religiosity in Baby Boom Women? A Developmental-Historical Approach," co-authored by Professor of Sociology Merril Silverstein, was published in Sociology of Religion.

Takeda is leading the citizenship and civic engagement program on an interim basis, while Silverstein has taken the helm of the Sociology Department. 

One of the main qualifications people seem to be looking for in their new spiritual communities is something that is less exclusionary than the denominations they were raised in. But it’s precisely the more “dogmatic” denominations and religious sects that are better able to keep adherents, says Merril Silverstein, professor of sociology.

The honor is presented to faculty members who have a significant, positive influence on graduate education through their commitment to superior graduate teaching, dedication to departmental and community presence and work in research initiatives.

This data slice examines the changes in grandparenting in rural China and calls for policies that decrease caregiver burnout, stress, and associated poor health outcomes. 

Merril Silverstein, Marjorie Cantor Endowed Professor in Aging, was quoted in the New York Times article, "The Nuclear Family Is No Longer the Norm. Good."

The degree to which religion is decoupled from prosocial goals and spirituality in contemporary young adults is one of many research questions to be addressed in the project “Spirituality and Prosocial Values in the Absence of Religion Among Millennials and Their Families.” This study will be led by Merril Silverstein, the Marjorie Cantor Endowed Professor of Aging Studies in the Falk College and the Maxwell School.