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What Are Older People Negative Attitudes About Aging?

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Ageism is widespread across all age groups according to an independent study by Kite and Johnson (1988, p.54). In fact, negative attitudes emerge very early in life as young as three years old. For some people over the years more permanent negative attitudes become fairly well entrenched. At its most basic level attitude can be reflective of an emotional or cognitive response to a person or group, whereas, stereotypes are traits or specific characteristic expectations for certain groups (Harwood, 2007, p.53). Attitudes often have a social basis, reflecting a person’s past experience with specific social, cultural, and historical contexts. One study found negative attitudes very consistent, even older people demonstrate unconscious negative attitudes about aging. In part, the reality of getting old is embedded from viewing a lifetime of negative television programs and hearing jokes about older people. One explanation attributes social identity theory as a reason we want to view a group in a positive light. As a result, those who are not members of the group may be viewed …show more content…

Martens, Greenberg, Schimel and Landau (2004, p.56) showed that when young people are reminded of their own mortality they had a more negative view of older individuals. Mortality issues may hold true as well for older adults when they think about their age. Another important point to be made with aging has to do with the “double standard” in sex differences. Older men benefit more from positive age stereotypes concerning wisdom and status than older women do. Kogan and Mills, 1992 explanation of aging hinges on the reproductive value of women versus men. Any physical indication of aging or ill health in women would be signs they are less valuable as reproductive partners. Men tend to retain reproductive value well into middle age much better than women

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