Aging And Negative Stereotypes Of Aging

The article dated 09.06.2016 by, Greater Good Science Center was an interesting article that talks about aging and how some people have negative attitudes towards the concept of getting older. There are many people that fear getting older because they feel that old age will make them less popular and looked upon as an old person. They feel that young people will toss them aside and forget about them. Some even feel that their own families will push them away and will not have time to spend with them because their hearing gets bad or their walking gets slower and many other reason but they feel that there is a lack of respect for older people these days as well. Many people do not respect nor treat

Gerontology as a field of scientific study can be traced back to the late 1800s; a time when research primarily focused on the negative attributes of aging, such as health decline. It wasn 't until the introduction of social gerontology in 1983 that researchers began to more rigorously study the psychological and social aspects of aging. In recognizing that “successful aging depends not just on the prevention of disease and disability, but also on the attainment of peak physical and psychological functioning,” (Quadagno,

Modern society view’s aging as a form of sickness and the elderly as persons who are closer to dying and death. This is what is often portrayed in our mass and social media. When considering issues of aging sociologists have found that more positive characteristics are often said for persons under sixty five years than for over sixty five years.

Aging and being old was dominated by negative characteristics and conditions such as illness, depression, and isolation for a long time (Eibach, Mock, & Courtney, 2010). At first glance the terms “success” and “aging” seem to be in conflict to each other. When asking people about aging, their answers have many facets that are also found in psychological definitions: successful aging is seen as health, maturity and personal growth, self-acceptance, happiness, generativity, coping, and acceptance of age-related limitations. In the psychological sense successful aging is also often seen as the absence of age-associated characteristics (Strawbridge, Wallhagen, & Cohen, 2002). It seems that successful aging means is not aging.

The humanity of aging is a concept sometimes hard to grasp. Understanding why we are

Thus, when older people, specifically women begin to display visible signs of aging such as gray hair culture devalues signs of aging, hence influence how women perceive and evaluate themselves. Furthermore, gendered ageism illustrates how older women are devalued in society and judged for showing signs of aging. According to the article, “, “Ageism and Body Esteem: Associations with Psychological Well-Being among Late Middle-Aged African American and European American Women,” by Natalie J. Sabik findings suggest that, “older women who are subjected to greater age discrimination may experience poorer health and lower body esteem” (190). In addition, impacting women’s psychological well-being by both ageism and

17). The generation of baby boomers is named so due to an extremely high birth rate following the return of WWII soldiers. These people, born from the mid-1940s to about 1964, are now either a part of the older generation, or only a few years from it. People tend to believe that the historical cohort’s large population is the only reason for an increased amount of older people in society. In reality, as the article points out, increases in longevity can also be attributed to advancements in medicine, along with knowledge about the spread of disease and general health (MacArthur Foundation, 2009). This myth contributes to the negative stereotyping of aging because those who believe this myth do not see the importance of an aged population. What some individuals do not realize is that generations living longer can provide endless wisdom, experience, and advice to the younger population. Instead of utilizing the increasing life expectancy, people tend to judge older individuals as having physical and mental decline, when in actuality, this is entirely untrue. This false belief is the second myth discussed in the

The United States is in the midst of a major demographic shift. People are living longer which means that the population of older adults, those sixty years and over, is growing. It is projected that by the year 2040, older adults will far outnumber school age children. Older adults are currently healthier and lead more productive lives than ever before, due in part to modern medicine and the new idea of seeing older people for their potential rather than their problems. This has prompted the concept of “creative aging” or “successful aging.” This positive view of aging is not new, only the terminology. Cicero, the Roman philosopher, is perhaps the first to introduce the idea of “good aging” in his essay, “On Old Age” which was penned in the year 44 BC. He wrote this essay in his early 60’s to show that old age is not a phase of decline and loss, and if approached properly becomes a time for positive change and productive functioning (Baltes & Baltes, 1990). Over the last few decades the subject of

The aging of society has not significantly changed our perceptions of the elderly. Ageism is widespread in Western societies (Dionigi, et al, 2011). Older adults are seen as boring, grumpy irritable, weak, debilitated, mournful, and most significantly cognitively. These stereotypes which are negative can be allowed by the aged themselves negative self-stereotyping (Dionigi, et al, 2011) and are as well found among specialized caregivers (e.g., Cowan, Fitzpatrick, Roberts, & While,2004). The image in relation to which older adults are more ineffectual than younger adults is predominantly dominant. Nevertheless, in a variety of domains, older adults are inclined to have analogous performances and at times even do better than younger

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

With the cheerful mood back to normal, the students continue their sing along when an old grayish pick-up pulls alongside the Buick, catching the kid’s interest. A 1945 ford 12 ton 8 cylinders with automatic transmission, an old classic for sure, and it had the black emission smoke to prove it. An elderly man with snow-white hair, wearing a vintage Dodger cap, which dated back to the days of Sandy Koufax, was at the wheel. With a strong resemblance to the horror film actor Vincent Price, the old man looked as out-of-date as the classic he was driving. However, there was nothing scary about him. The woman, on the other hand, is presenting a more stereotyped description of what a real grandma should look like; at least that is what the kids

Research shows people who have more of a positive mind set about old age or being old are more likely to live longer than those opposed to with a negative mind set. Judith Graham is the author of “Older People Become What They Think, Study Shows”. The overall objective of this article is to prove having a negative or positive stereotypes about seniors and aging, will have an impact on old age people themselves. Whether older aged people believe the stereotypes or are being given perspectives of the stereotypes.

Hello, Marianna. I enjoyed reading your post. Stereotyping the elderly people should be avoided in their care. What hurt me the most is when I hear staff stereotyping the older adults. Sometimes, this can impact the way they provide care. We should serve as a good role model and give the best quality care that they deserve. I agree elderly patients should be fully informed of their risk of any intervention and procedure. They are a higher risk of post-op complications due to their age. A detailed preoperative assessment is vital to identify their risks and to plan interventions that could minimize post-op complications. Health care providers should We should always remember to treat the elderly population with dignity and respect. Great Post.

Aging can be a scary thing for many individuals. Aging can bring on fears of losing quality of life, becoming ill or disabled, losing mental capabilities, and not being able to care for one’s self, and many other issues. Some of these issues can be addressed by changing ways of thinking or finding new ways to do old things. The article THE POTENTIAL OF OLDER ADULTS TO ENHANCE COMMUNITY QUALITY OF LIFE: LINKS BETWEEN POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND PRODUCTIVE AGING can give people hope that some aspects of aging and quality of life are in the control of the individual who is aging.

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,