Abstract
Objectives
Popular responses to the pandemic illustrate ageism’s pervasiveness and the extent of collective acquiescence to its newest expressions. We explore these themes by analyzing ...Twitter reactions to “calculated ageism”—a term we use to refer to a political figure’s edict that older adults should sacrifice their lives if it will mitigate the pandemic’s economic damage to younger people.
Method
Using thematic analysis, we examine tweets (n = 188) responding to Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick’s March 23, 2020, statement that encouraged generational self-sacrifice. Themes that emerged included positions of support or opposition and tweeters’ critiques.
Results
The large majority of tweets—90%—opposed calculated ageism, while only 5% supported it and 5% conveyed no position. Opposition centered on moral critiques, political-economic critiques, assertions of older adults’ worth, and public health arguments. Support centered on individual responsibility and patriotism.
Discussion
While prior research reveals ageism’s entrenchment in popular culture, our study finds that it has limits and identifies the reasons underlying them. The most common reasons for opposing calculated ageism center on its immorality and on its privileging of the economic interests of the powerful few over the many, patterns suggesting that the boundaries of ageism are influenced by core beliefs about fairness. They also are shaped by a bedrock conviction that older lives have value. This intergenerational solidarity could be leveraged to reduce ageism during the pandemic and beyond.
The construct of age occupies a curious position in mainstream sociology: It is omnipresent but theoretically underdeveloped. The most prevalent approaches-age as control variable and age as life ...course-elide the aspect of age most relevant to the discipline, namely its operation as a system of inequality. Building on the foundation laid by scholars of life course sociology, age studies, and gerontology, I propose a new framework for thinking about age. The framework integrates insights from these fields and identifies inequality as a key axis on which several dimensions of age turn, thus placing age squarely in the domain of sociological research centering on inequalities. The article concludes with a discussion of how this framework can enhance the empirical and theoretical contributions of age-focused research. In particular, research that delves into how institutions, performances, and identities reproduce age inequality flows from this framework and constitutes a valuable contribution in its own right. Moreover, such an orientation positions the sociology of age as integral to the discipline, given its commitment to understanding how inequalities infuse social life.
Abstract
Objectives
Although changes in body functioning and appearance signal the aging process to ourselves and others, studies give limited attention to the effect of bodily experiences of aging ...on age identity. Our study examines the effect on age identity of 3 categories of aging body reminders: everyday body problems, body repairs, and body aids.
Methods
Hierarchical linear models are run using 5 waves of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (2011–2015). Models predict the effect on age identity of change in the count of everyday body problems (e.g., pain), body repairs (i.e., surgeries and medications), and body aids (e.g., hearing aids).
Results
Increases in everyday body problems and body repairs (in particular, medications) predict older identities, with the strongest average effect found for everyday body problems. These results are observed in models controlling on health, suggesting that body reminders exert independent effects.
Discussion
Our study reveals a realm of aging experiences—bodily experiences—that influence age identity. Avenues for further research include examinations of other aging body reminders, as well as variation across individuals.
Evidence is accumulating on the effects of subjective aging-that is, how individuals perceive their own aging process-on health and survival in later life. The goal of this article is to synthesize ...findings of existing longitudinal studies through a meta-analysis. A systematic search in PsycInfo, Web of Science, Scopus, and Pubmed resulted in 19 longitudinal studies reporting effects of subjective aging on health, health behaviors, and longevity. The authors combine the outcomes reported in these studies using a random effects meta-analysis, assuming that there would be differences in effect sizes across studies. The meta-analysis resulted in an overall significant effect of subjective aging (likelihood ratio = 1.429; 95% confidence interval = 1.273-1.604; p < .001). The analyses revealed heterogeneity, with stronger effects for studies with a shorter period of follow-up, for studies of health versus survival, for studies with younger participants (average age of the studies varies between 57 and 85 years with a median of 63 years), and for studies in welfare systems where state provisions of welfare are minimal. However, effects did not vary either across different operationalizations of subjective aging or by study quality. Subjective aging has a small significant effect on health, health behaviors, and survival. Further theoretical conceptualizations and empirical studies are needed to determine how subjective aging contributes to health and survival.
Medical sociology gives limited attention to age—a surprising observation given the aging of the population and the fact that age is among the strongest determinants of health. We examine this issue ...through an analysis of articles published in Journal of Health and Social Behavior (JHSB) and Sociology of Health & Illness (SHI) between 2000 and 2019. One in 10 articles focused on age or aging, with attention increasing over the period. However, the journals differed. More JHSB than SHI articles addressed it, but fewer focused on the latest life stages when frailty often appears. We discuss three dimensions of age that would enrich medical sociology: as a dimension of inequality akin to race and gender with similar health effects, as an institution interacting with the medical one, and as an identity—again, akin to race and gender—through which people process their experiences in ways that affect health.
Abstract
Background and Objectives
Grandparent–adult grandchild relationships may not be captured in existing grandparenting typologies, which focus on early stages of these relationships. Our study ...develops a typology for later stages, estimates the prevalence of grandparents in each category, and examines associations between category membership and grandparent and grandchild characteristics.
Research Design and Methods
Using a sample of 289 grandparents from the latest wave of the Longitudinal Study of Generations (2005), we employed latent class analysis to examine underlying categories of grandparent–adult grandchild relationships, based on four dimensions—frequency of contact, relationship quality, grandparents’ receipt of support, and geographic distance.
Results
Three latent classes emerged: Geographically Distant/Low Contact (45%), Geographically Close/High Contact (42%), and Geographically Close/Low Contact (13%). While geographic distance and frequency of contact were dimensions distinguishing grandparent–adult grandchild relationships, receipt of support and relationship quality were not. Most grandparents reported close relationships but infrequent support.
Discussion and Implications
By identifying categories of grandparent–adult grandchild relationships and factors influencing membership in them, our study may aid in efforts to strengthen those characterized by weak bonds—namely, those with grandparents who are older, frailer, and poorer.
Rising numbers of single middle-aged and older adults encouraged a proliferation of online dating websites targeting this population. However, few studies examine aging adults’ involvement in online ...dating. This study uses semistructured interviews with 18 online daters aged 53 to 74 and 2 romance coaches to examine how aspects of their online expectations and experiences are shaped by age and gender. Analyses reveal that men seek committed relationships, whereas women desire companionship without demanding caring roles. Different barriers to dating increase the appeal of online strategies: Men face narrow social networks, while women face competition from younger women and friendship norms limiting the pool of eligible partners. Both genders screen for youthful characteristics and attempt to convey youthful images of themselves. Men’s criteria center on physical attractiveness, whereas women’s focus is on abilities. In constructing profiles, women focus on their looks and sociability and men on their financial and occupational successes.
Studies of intensive mothering suggest that fulfilling societal expectations of the “good mother” diminishes maternal psychological well-being; however, studies tend to focus on young mothers. We ...examine the association between intensive mothering and psychological well-being using a sample of mothers in midlife (n = 1,388) drawn from the 2004-2006 National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States. Intensive mothering is measured as provision of high levels of emotional support to children, high degree of thought and effort put into these relationships, and reduction of paid work to provide more care. Psychological well-being is measured as depressive symptoms, self-rated mental health, and positive and negative affect. Ordinary least squares regression results are mixed: While providing high levels of emotional support predicts more depressive symptoms, worse self-rated mental health, and higher negative affect, higher investments of thought and effort predict better mental health.
Marital status is associated with psychological well-being, with the married faring better than the formerly and never-married. However, this conclusion derives from research focusing more on ...negative than positive well-being. We examine the association between marital status and negative well-being, measured as depressive symptoms, and positive well-being, measured as autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, self-acceptance, and purpose in life. Using Wave 2 of Midlife in the United States (2004–2006; n = 1,711), we find that the continuously married fare better on the negative dimension than do the formerly married. The results for some measures of positive well-being also reveal an advantage for the continuously married, compared with the formerly and the never-married. However, results for other positive measures indicate that the unmarried, and the remarried, fare better—not worse—than the continuously married. Further, some results suggest greater benefits for remarried or never-married women than men.
The expansion of life expectancy has precipitated a cultural transformation of the life course - altering the perceived temporal contours of middle and later life. However, our understanding of these ...perceptions is limited by the absence of a framework within which to examine them. This paper builds on the life course perspective - which emphasizes the objective patterning of lives - by focusing on the subjective side of the life course. Drawing on theoretically, methodologically, and substantively diverse studies, this paper develops the concept of the subjective life course - a term we use to denote individuals' perceptions of the life course, including its structure and timing and their advancing location in it. We outline two dimensions of the subjective life course - the target of the perception (i.e., generalized other versus self) and the temporal frame of reference (i.e., past, present, or future). Using the resulting framework as an organizational tool, we then discuss key constructs located at each intersection along these dimensions, providing examples, where possible, of empirical studies examining them. We close with a discussion of two broad directions for research: leveraging the framework to yield insight on the subjective life course and exploring links between objective and subjective dimensions of the life course.
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