Ageism is a widespread phenomenon and constitutes a significant threat to older people's well-being. Identifying the factors contributing to ageism is critical to inform policies that minimise its ...societal impact. In this systematic review, we gathered and summarised empirical studies exploring the key determinants of ageism against older people for a period of over forty years (1970-2017). A comprehensive search using fourteen databases identified all published records related to the umbrella concept of "ageism". Reviewers independently screened the final pool to identify all papers focusing on determinants, according to a predefined list of inclusion and exclusion criteria. All relevant information was extracted and summarised following a narrative synthesis approach. A total of 199 papers were included in this review. We identified a total of 14 determinants as robustly associated with ageism. Of these, 13 have an effect on other-directed ageism, and one on self-directed ageism. The quality of contact with older people and the positive or negative presentation of older people to others emerged as the most robust determinants of other-directed ageism; self-directed ageism is mostly determined by older adults' health status. Given the correlational nature of most studies included in this review, inferences on causality should be made cautiously.
Abstract
The goal of this commentary is to highlight the ageism that has emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 20 international researchers in the field of ageing have contributed to this ...document. This commentary discusses how older people are misrepresented and undervalued in the current public discourse surrounding the pandemic. It points to issues in documenting the deaths of older adults, the lack of preparation for such a crisis in long-term care homes, how some ‘protective’ policies can be considered patronising and how the initial perception of the public was that the virus was really an older adult problem. This commentary also calls attention to important intergenerational solidarity that has occurred during this crisis to ensure support and social-inclusion of older adults, even at a distance. Our hope is that with this commentary we can contribute to the discourse on older adults during this pandemic and diminish the ageist attitudes that have circulated.
Progress on Understanding Ageism Levy, Sheri R.; Macdonald, Jamie L.
Journal of social issues,
03/2016, Letnik:
72, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Almost 50 years ago, ageism (negative attitudes toward older adults) was introduced as a significant social issue. Since then, the worldwide population of adults ages 60 and over has rapidly become ...the fastest growing age group, making the study of ageism an even more pressing social issue. This review outlines three broad and intertwined themes as the field continues to develop a fuller understanding of ageism: studying both positive and negative aspects of ageism, taking a lifespan focus, and integrating the study of ageism with the study of aging. The review also focuses on several timely subthemes such as the need and benefits of expanding measures of ageism and intervening variables, expanding the diversity of study samples, expanding the research methodologies, and expanding the contexts under study toward greater cross‐cultural and within‐culture investigations. This review and the international, interdisciplinary research showcased in this special issue are intended to set the stage for the next wave of international research on ageism across the lifecycle and of effective interventions and public policies supporting older adults and positive intergenerational relations.
Our study investigates the long-term effects of a resource-based group intervention designed to strengthen older employees' late-career management preparedness on their perceptions of age ...discrimination, work engagement and future time perspective at work. A randomly assigned field experimental study (RCT) was carried out in 17 organizations representing both the private and public sectors. The data consisted of 699 employees with a mean age of 58. The results of the mixed-effects models revealed that the proximal effect of the intervention was increased late-career management preparedness. This in turn, reduced perceived age discrimination, strengthened work engagement and enhanced future time perspective at work, all of which was seen at six-month follow-up. The intervention was the most beneficial among aging employees with a lower-level education and those with a younger supervisor. On the basis of our results, we recommend resource-based peer group techniques for strengthening career management among aging employees, as it seems to enhance sustainability of their working careers.
•Enhancing late-career management decreases perceptions of age discrimination.•Enhancing preparedness for late-career management increases work engagement.•Enhancing late-career management increases time perspective at work.•Less educated senior workers benefitted most of career management program.•Senior workers with younger boss benefitted most of career management program.
Background: Direct intergenerational contact promotes positive attitudes of young people toward older people and thereby reducing ageism. This study aimed to examine: (1) the association between ...attitude, prosocial intention, and prosocial behaviour toward older people, (2) factors contributing to the quality of intergenerational contact, and (3) the respective roles of face-to-face, extended, and vicarious intergenerational contact in influencing young people's attitudes and prosocial behaviour toward older people. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 467 young people in Hong Kong. They were asked to respond to a questionnaire regarding their direct and indirect intergenerational experiences as well as attitude and prosocial behaviour toward older people. Results: Young people in Hong Kong reported positive attitude, prosocial intention, and prosocial behaviour toward older people. Participants who perceived higher levels of equal status in face-to-face intergenerational contact and had more phone contact with older people they knew were more likely to report higher quality of face-to-face contact with older people. Face-to-face intergenerational contact quality had the strongest contribution to attitude toward older people, followed by vicarious intergenerational contact and female gender. The strengths of direct and indirect contact relationships differed in people having higher and lower levels of face-to-face contact frequency. Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of synergistic efforts to respond to ageism; government, schools, private settings, community groups, and media all have a part to play. Policymakers and organisations of different sectors should join efforts to formulate new and innovative policies and to implement practices at family, institutional, and societal levels to achieve intergenerational integration.
Ageism in the time of COVID-19 Swift, Hannah J.; Chasteen, Alison L.
Group processes & intergroup relations,
02/2021, Letnik:
24, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
In this article, we outline how the response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has the potential to fundamentally change how we think and feel about our own age, and how we think and feel about ...other age groups. Specifically, we outline how discourse surrounding the pandemic has strengthened the homogeneous view of older adults as vulnerable, has socially stigmatized being an older adult, and has exacerbated hostile and benevolent expressions of ageism. We explore the impact of these changing dynamics on intergenerational cohesion and relations, and propose that understanding theories of ageism will be essential for how we handle future pandemics in order to reduce the potential negative impact of crises on individuals as well as on communities and societies.
The authors identify, analyze, and summarize prior research from 117 research articles and books that deal with age stereotypes in the workplace. They discover and report the most prevalent and ...well-supported findings that have implications for human resource management. These findings are described in terms of prevalent age stereotypes that occur in work settings, evidence refuting age stereotypes, and moderators of age stereotypes. The authors provide recommendations for practice and future research.
Negative stereotypes about older workers can result in ageism and age discrimination in the workplace. The aim of this study is to carry out an adaptation to Spanish and a preliminary validation of ...the Nordic Age Discrimination Scale (NADS) in a sample of Spanish workers over 55 years of age. The study involved 209 employees aged between 55 and 67 years old (155 women (74.2%) and 54 men (25.8%)) working in the health sector with different professional categories (nurses, doctors, nursing assistants, ancillaries and health technicians). The reliability index of the six dimensions of the NADS (promotion, training, development, development appraisals, wage increase and change processes) measured by Cronbach's alpha was α = 0.83. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, with the goodness-of-fit indexes used, reflect an acceptable adjustment of the single-factor structure of the NADS. Regarding criterion and construct validity, the NADS correlated positively and negatively with the respective variables in the expected directions, except in one case. These results indicate that the Spanish version of the NADS shows adequate levels of internal consistency and criterion validity, and this instrument meets standard psychometric properties in its Spanish version.
The disproportionately high rates of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) health complications and mortality among older adults prompted supportive public responses, such as special senior early ...shopping hours and penpal programs. Simultaneously, some older adults faced neglect and blatant displays of ageism (e.g., #BoomerRemover) and were considered the lowest priority to receive health care. This article examines positive and negative responses toward older adults in the United States during the pandemic and the consequences for older adults and society using data from the pandemic in the United States (and informed by data from other countries) as well as past theorizing and empirical research on views and treatment of older adults. Specifically, positive responses can reinforce the value of older adults, improve older adults' mental and physical health, reduce ageism, and improve intergenerational relations, whereas negative responses can have the opposite effects. However, positive responses (social distancing to protect older adults from COVID-19 infection) can inadvertently increase loneliness, depression, health problems, and negative stereotyping of older adults (e.g., helpless, weak). Pressing policy issues evident from the treatment of older adults during the pandemic include health care (triaging, elder abuse), employment (layoffs, retirement), and education about ageism, as well as the intersection of ageism with other forms of prejudice (e.g., racism) that cuts across these policies.
Public Significance Statement
This article explores positive and negative responses toward older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and the expected short- and long-term consequences such as impacting beliefs about and treatment of older adults, intergenerational relations, and individuals' mental and physical health. This article discusses policy changes to health care (triaging, elder abuse), employment (layoffs, retirement), and education about ageism.
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