Ageism is Widespread in Western Societies

One important aspect of ageism is that the stereotypes created are often undeserving of the older population’s actual capabilities.

Putting distance between oneself and aging thus alleviates the fear of dying (Encyclopedia of Aging, 2002). In some countries previously named a lot of the elder are held on a pedestal. The see old age as a good thing and they look to their elders for wisdom. American culture though, seems to have lost this perspective. Ageism has become ingrained in American culture as it is passed on to children from parents who hold ageist stereotypes. The same ageist myths and misconceptions that are held by adults are also held by teens and children. Americans make jokes and comments about growing old that perpetuate negative stereotypes about aging and older persons. The lexicon is replete with ageist terms that portray older people in a negative light, such as “old fogey,” “old fart,” “geezer,” and “old goat” (Encyclopedia of Aging, 2002). Greeting-card and novelty companies call them “Over the Hill” products: the 50th Birthday Coffin Gift Boxes featuring prune juice and anti-aging soap; the “Old Coot” and “Old Biddy” bobble head dolls; the birthday cards mocking the mobility, intellect and sex drive of the no-longer-young. Many Americans chuckle at such humor. Others see it as offensive, as one more sign of pervasive ageism in America (Associated Press, 2004).

These stereotypes, however, are very far from the truth about what occurs during the late adulthood stage. They stem from a form of prejudice referred to as ageism (Berger, 2008). Gerontologists define ageism as “A form of prejudice used to categorize and judge individual based on their chronological age only” (Berger, 2008, p. 615). The issue of ageism can promote patronizing treatment toward persons in the late adulthood stage and even foster discrimination. For example, people in the West unconsciously process

Ageism and stereotypes of older people can have an important impact on their physical health, mental health and overall wellbeing. Negative stereotypes of older people being dependent and decrepit can be internalized and become self-fulfilling. These ageist thoughts and stereotypes can lead to older people not seeking health care in general and to not get treatment appropriate for their illness or medical condition due to their age and not based on any other factor.

For instance , growth and development, beauty, good health, happiness are more likely to be listed as characteristics of being under sixty five years, whereas decline health, loneliness undesired physical appearance are likely to be listed for person’s over sixty five years. According to the Centre of Confidence and well being (n.d) reports stereotypes of the elderly as being needy,

Ageism is any attitudes, actions, or institutional structure which subordinates a person or group because of their age or any assignment of roles in society purely on the basis of age. It typically reflects a prejudice in society against older adults. The concept of aging varies across different cultures as different countries have varying demographic statistics such as Japan and Italy having significant part of their population above the age of 60 versus most countries in Africa who have significant parts of their population below the age of 30. Most research on ageism is done on children, adolescents, or young adults with few studies on actual older adults. Age is increasingly becoming a more positive concept, yet older people are still stereotyped. The three theories in sociology about aging are disengagement, activity, and continuity.

Merriam-Webster (1980) defines Ageism: any attitude, action, or institutional structure which subordinates a person or group because of age or any assignment of roles in society purely based on age; ageism reflects a prejudice in society against older adults. Discrimination towards the elderly is apparent throughout society. Society has a negative stereotype related to perceptions on aging. We live in a youth-oriented society that does not view the elderly with respect and dignity due to today’s culture and media. The emphasis that are put on ‘staying young’ are enforced on every level. From plastic surgery to every way you could think of to stay ‘young and healthy’ is everywhere you look. The outlook on growing old is a stigma. The stereotypes that are put on older people can be done subconsciously a variety of ways in our everyday life. A few of these stereotypes are: older people are lousy drivers, they are grouchy, weak and incapable. How many times have you been driving behind an elderly person and became aggravated. Or standing behind an older person checking out at a store, they are older, it takes them a little longer to do things. Or even in the ways people speak about the elderly and the negative energy that goes along with it. If you start to pay attention to it, you will start to realize how common it actually is. These characterizations allow our society to disregard the geriatric population and who they really are. There are numerous quality-of-life issues

The actual statistic of people in nursing homes is around five percent in the United States. That is approximately about sixteen million people. Many people believe that people are forced into a nursing home because they are frail or have an illness or disability. When in actuality about fifteen percent go to a nursing home because of these reasons.I know this stereotype is false because I know a lot of older people not in a nursing home. With this, a similar stereotype is that old people are always sick. This goes with the nursing home stereotype because it is believed that many sick people go to nursing homes. This goes with that old people lose their sexuality because of commercials that bash on olders people sexual drive. Older people can not benefit from services to help them mentally.

Myths and stereotypes about aging are illness, impotency, ugliness, mental decline, uselessness. The myth about illness is when you get old you are sick and disabled. Impotency has

When most people envision an elderly person, their minds go to the iconic little old lady or man. They automatically think about them having psychological ailments such as dementia or Alzheimer’s. With this assumption comes many unfair prejudices in the work place or other

As aging is a stage of development that cannot prevented, the question of “can one’s aging be more successful than another?” is posed my many. Researchers continually consider the differences between aging successfully, and aging unsuccessfully. As researchers work to complete their studies, many find a reoccurring basis of successful aging. A basis of successful aging can be set including: physical health disease free, chronic illness free, mental health disease free, among many others. The only problem with this basis is the difference from person to person in terms of what makes aging successful. As individuals age, their mental state is a large predictor of how the person will age. A positive mental state about aging, will have a more positive effect on a person’s aging process. Many factors may influence the positivity of aging, such as negative aging stereotypes and discrimination because of older age. These negative aging stereotypes include but are not limited to: older adults are not as smart, older adults are angry all the time, older adults are bad drivers, older adults are isolated and never socialize. In adult aging and development, having a positive outlook on aging will lead to better mental and physical aging.

Measures used include; the Fraboni Scale on Ageism (FSA), Palmore’s Facts on Aging Quiz (FAQ), and the Aging Anxiety Scale (AAS). Older participants were found to be less ageist, while participants with increased knowledge about aging tended to be less anxious towards aging and less ageist. Regarding gender; men were significantly more ageist than women (p=.002). This article brings into light many theories which correlate with attitudes towards the elderly, such as; working with older adults, living with older adults, and knowledge about aging. It seems that not only stereotypes of aging influence attitudes towards older adults. This study brings into light importance of time spent with older

Today, elderly people in the United States are isolated from the rest of the world. Most of them live in nursing homes where they are far away from their families. Others live by themselves where they have no family members visiting them and leaving them to take care of everything. Some researchers believe that ageism, in the form of negative stereotypes, directly affects longevity. In a study published by the American Psychological Association, Yale School of Public Health professor Becca Levy and her colleagues concluded that old people with positive perceptions of aging lived an average of 7.5 years longer than those with negative images of growing older (Associated Press, 2004). Levy said many Americans start developing stereotypes

Knowing and having an understanding of what ageing stands for, remains an important step, growing-up or growing older and ageism are theories about older individuals. Ageism includes preconceptions that elderly are categorized for their age and perceived as weak, and incapable of performing tasks and needy of others (Quadagno, 2014). Another view about elderly individuals is the way they are looked down on by the younger society, i.e. elderly are not as intelligent as their younger competitive working force. People fear what they do not know and do not understand. Age transpires as something that must be lived through in order to understand what ageing means; looking back on one’s life and seeing accomplishments made,

Rather than giving humans more youth, the push to stave off old age has made humans old for longer. Better health care, diets and regular exercise have led to the longevity that was promised. Now, with this success, society has to consider how it will value its elderly. A society’s worth is often measured in how it treats its children and its aged. Bias aimed at a person of advanced age is called ageism, a term coined by Robert N. Butler in 1968. He was a physician and pioneer in the field of geriatric medicine. He was, among other things, a founding director of the National Institute on Aging and president of the International Longevity Center. He was one of the first to describe age prejudice, and said it was “a systemic stereotyping of and discrimination against people because they are old.” His contemporaries back in the early years of his career during the 1960s typically seized on symptoms of senility and diseases, frailty and incapacity, and obsolescence when assessing the elderly. Butler, however, took note of and valued late-life potentialities among the aged patients that sought him out for help (Achenbaum, 2014).