At school, youth will always cling to what they know best. Anyone else not like them is foreign. We will become friendly with people our own age, develop our own clicks, hang out with certain people, and engage in activities that are of interest to us and who we are familiar with. Similarly, the elderly will best associate with whom they know. Certain social groups are formed.
Referent is defined as the object or event to which a term or symbol is referred.
The elderly may view an object or idea one way while youth may view that same object another way. For example, a youth will see and know a computer and its purpose while an elderly person might view that same object as a machine or contraption that has no use to them. Separation of ideas leads to the separation of groups so youth will identify with another youth because the familiar thinking pattern or regard toward certain ideas are the same. And likewise the elderly will identify only with the elderly. The varying approaches or views by referent further separation.