Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
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Ageism: prejudice against our feared future self
- Author:
- NELSON Todd D.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Issues, 61(2), June 2005, pp.207-221.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
For decades, researchers have discovered much about how humans automatically categorize others in social perception. Some categorizations - race, gender, and age - are so automatic that they are termed "primitive categories." As we categorize, we often develop stereotypes about the categories. Researchers know much about racism and sexism, but comparatively little about prejudicing and stereotyping based on age. The articles in this issue highlight the current empirical and theoretical work by researchers in gerontology, psychology, communication, and related fields on understanding the origins and consequences of stereotyping and prejudicing against older adults. With the aging baby boomer demographic, it is especially timely for researchers to work to understand how society can shed its institutionalized ageism and promote respect for elders.
Models of the aging self
- Authors:
- SNEED Joel R., WHITBOURNE Susan Krauss
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Issues, 61(2), June 2005, pp.375-388.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Older adults are faced with numerous physical, psychological, and social role changes that challenge their sense of self and capacity to live happily. In addition, they are inundated by our youth-oriented culture with negative ageist stereotypes. Nevertheless, most older adults live happy, fulfilling lives. In this article, we review theories of the aging individual that address this apparent paradox. These theories can be largely divided into those that emphasize control and goal attainment, and those that emphasize the self's organizational capacity. Of the self-oriented theories, the authorsl highlightWhitbourne's identity process perspective, which is specific to the aging process and attempts to explain the self's unique capacity to remain stable yet change over time.
This old stereotype: the pervasiveness and persistence of the elderly stereotype
- Authors:
- CUDDY Amy J. C., NORTON Michael I., FISKE Susan T.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Issues, 61(2), June 2005, pp.267-285.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Americans stereotype elderly people as warm and incompetent, following from perceptions of them as noncompetitive and low status, respectively. This article extends existing research regarding stereotyping of older people in two ways. First, the authors discuss whether the mixed elderly stereotype is unique to American culture. Data from six non-U.S. countries, including three collectivist cultures, demonstrate elderly stereotypes are consistent across varied cultures. Second, the authors investigate the persistence of the evaluatively-mixed nature of the elderly stereotype. In an experiment, 55 college students rated less competent elderly targets (stereotype-consistent) as warmer than more competent (stereotype-inconsistent) and control elderly targets. The authors also discuss the type of discrimination social exclusion that elderly people often endure.
Perceptions of students about younger and older men and women who may be homeless
- Authors:
- KANE Michael N., GREEN Diane, JACOBS Robin J.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Service Research, 36(4), July 2010, pp.261-277.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
The perceptions of social work students toward older and younger female and male homeless individuals were examined using a self-administered survey. The participants were 207 students enrolled in graduate or undergraduate social work courses in South Florida. The students were given 1 of 4 vignettes in which a character was identified as an older male, a younger male, an older female, or a younger female who was frequently seen near an interstate highway, talking to themselves and appearing unkempt, thin, and frail. Most respondents perceived the vignette character as mentally ill, neglectful of health, likely to have HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, or hepatitis C, likely to experience suicidal thoughts or ideation, and to have head lice, scabies or body lice. Older men were more likely to be perceived as military veterans with a history of mental illness and substance abuse. Older women were least likely to be perceived as having a history of substance abuse or using a handout to purchase ethanol. Older women were perceived to be homeless because they could not afford other living accommodations. A general linear model revealed significant differences in 7 of 41 items that respondents answered based on the gender and age of the vignette characters.
Gender differences in the portrayal of older people in television documentaries in Hong Kong, 1987-2006
- Author:
- TAM Caillie
- Journal article citation:
- Generations Review, 20(2), April 2010, Online only
- Publisher:
- British Society of Gerontology
There is an extensive literature on the images of older people in various types of mass media in Western societies. However, in Hong Kong, there have been very few studies on the images of older people and gender differences in the mass media. This study employed content analysis as its main research method, with a coding scheme designed to allow the researcher to use standardized coding criteria for a range of documentaries spanning a twenty-year period. The analysis compared the portrayals of men based around three areas: economic condition (relatively good and relatively disadvantaged), self-care ability (independent, having minor health limitations, and dependent), and overall personal traits (positive, negative and neutral). The study had some limitations, but findings were that older male characters appeared to be somewhat more favourably depicted than their female counterparts in all areas analysed.
Re-vision of older television characters: a stereotype-awareness intervention
- Authors:
- DONLON Margie M., ASHMAN Ori, LEVY Becca R.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Issues, 61(2), June 2005, pp.307-319.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This study examines whether greater television exposure predicts older individuals' more negative images of aging, and whether an intervention based on maintaining a television diary of viewing impressions will increase their awareness of the stereotypical and infrequent manner in which elders are presented. Seventy-six individuals, aged 60 to 92, participated. As expected, all participants showed a correspondence between greater television exposure and more negative images of aging. Also as expected, the intervention-group participants developed a greater awareness of how elders are presented on television. Further, the intervention-group participants expressed their intention to watch less television in the future. These findings suggest that the promotion of awareness provides a means of helping elders confront ageism.
Perceiving age discrimination in response to intergenerational inequity
- Authors:
- GARSTKA Teri A., HUMMERT Mary Lee, BRANSCOMBE Nyla R.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Issues, 61(2), June 2005, pp.321-342.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Young (N= 57), middle-aged (N= 57), and older adults (N= 47) were presented with an editorial that argued in favor of their age group's economic interests (e.g., their privilege was fair; their disadvantage was unfair) or against their age group's economic interests (e.g., their privilege was unfair; their disadvantage was fair). Participants completed measures of perceived age discrimination, attributions for outcomes, and support for age-based spending. Unfavorable intergenerational comparisons elicited higher perceived age discrimination in middle-aged adults, and more support among all age groups for funding to middle-aged adults compared to favorable comparisons. Young and older adults reported more age discrimination than middle-aged adults regardless of comparison type. Age group status consequences for responses to the intergenerational conflict debate are discussed.
The social separation of old and young: a root of ageism
- Authors:
- HAGESTAD Gunhild O., UHLENBERG Peter
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Issues, 61(2), June 2005, pp.343-360.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Ageism has been the focus of numerous publications, while age segregation is a neglected topic. Ageism on a micro-individual level is linked to segregation on a macro level in a segregation-ageism cycle. Possible linking mechanisms, which might help break this cycle, can be found on a meso level of social networkstheir structure and functions. Data from the United States and the Netherlands show that non-family networks are strongly age homogeneous. Based on earlier work by a range of scholars, the authors suggest that time, group identity, perspective-taking, and affective ties are factors that must be considered with regard to the functions of networks. Addressing meso level mechanisms poses challenges to social policy as well as research.
Predicting counseling psychologists attitudes and clinical judgments with respect to older adults
- Authors:
- TOMKO Jody K., MUNLEY Patrick H.
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 17(2), 2013, pp.233-241.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The authors examined age, gender, training and experience in aging issues, fear of death, and multicultural competence in predicting counselling psychologists’ global attitudes toward older adults. They also assessed specific clinical judgments using a case vignette. A national sample of 364 practicing counselling psychologists (mean age 51.8 years, 63.5% female, 93% Caucasian, average years in practice 15) completed a demographic measure, Polizzi's refined version of the Aging Semantic Differential, a survey of professional bias based on a clinical vignette of a 70-year-old woman, the Collett–Lester Fear of Death Scale 3.0, the Multicultural Counseling Knowledge and Awareness ScaleMCKAS), and a Training and Experience Questionnaire. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to investigate the extent to which the selected variables predicted more favourable attitudes toward older adults and less professional bias toward an older client beyond prediction by age and gender. The responses revealed that older age and higher total scores on the MCKAS predicted less professional bias in clinical judgments. Gender was a significant predictor of global attitudes toward older adults. The authors conclude that multicultural knowledge, awareness, and skills are important in working with older adults.
“You’re nothing but a junkie”: multiple experiences of stigma in an aging methadone maintenance population
- Authors:
- CONNER Kyaien O., ROSEN Daniel
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, 8(2), 2008, pp.244-264.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
This qualitative study examined the existence and experiences of stigma in a sample of older adult methadone maintenance clients. Twenty four subjects aged 50 years or more attending a clinic in a large Midwestern US city participated in semi-structured interviews. Twenty three subjects reported experiencing stigma. Of these, 12 cited experiencing two stigmas simultaneously, 6 experienced three stigmas, and 5 reported four or more stigmas. The two respondents who reported experiencing the most stigmas were both African American men. Generally men reported more stigmas than women. Eight distinct stigma categories emerged the most commonly cited being drug addiction (n=19), aging (n=13), taking psychotropic medications (n=11), and depression (n=10). Respondents who reported more stigmas were more likely to identify stigma as a barrier to substance abuse and mental health treatment. Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed. The authors comment that it is important for clinicians, as well as researchers, to recognise the burden of multiple stigmas, the impact stigmas can have on attitudes toward help seeking, and the way in which they further impact the mental health status of clients.