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

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

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,

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.

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.

There is a perceived notion that Eastern societies view aging in a positive aspect, while Western societies view aging in a negative light. Although there is much emphasis on respect for elders on the Confucian societies, however, does East Asia’s treatment of the Elderly really differ from North America’s treatment? In the Perceptions of Aging in Two cultures: Korean and American views on Old Age, the authors are able to prove their thesis that through previous studies by Harwood et al that countries such as South Korea, Philippines and Hong-Kong do not necessarily hold positive views on of old age. In this study, to better understand beliefs and perceptions of aging, Koreans were expected to have a greater fear of old people, worry more about their physical appearance, and show greater levels of anxiety over aging more than their American counter parts. Although American women were expected to show more anxiety towards their physical appearance more than their male counterparts. Such perceptions on older people have an effect on the mental, physical and emotional health of elderly people. The many negative stereotypes about seniors affect how seniors see themselves and how society views them. These stereotypes are usually “regarding their physical and cognitive abilities”. Although these stereotypes may seem harmless, they hold serious ramifications to which affects the elderly participation in activities which may improve their physical or cognitive abilities. These

Many sociologists believe that, like childhood, the age status is socially constructed. Many discussions about old age are negative and stereotypical, therefore it is constructed as a problem. People have different critical stereotypes of elderly people, they see them as, slow, old fashioned, complaining all the time and many other traditional stereotypes. An example of this would be the Griffiths Report. This report claimed that the care of the elderly was pushing society to facing the problem of meeting the growing costs that health and social care needs in order to help the growing number of elderly people. There has also been a recent fear of the ‘pension time bomb’ this has also caused some negative attitudes and concerns that the ageing population creates a

In today’s society, many elderly people succumb to societies negative notion they are no longer needed because they are close to dying and have no desire to learn new things. Several studies have shown having a positive viewpoint regarding one’s personal experience toward aging decreases the probability of morbidity. The concept of “you can not teach an old dog new tricks” is an excuse. This negative perspective towards aging has a direct impact on the person’s health. It develops a sense of hopefulness to remain healthy and

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

In this article, the author examine if negative attitudes towards older people could potentially be reversed through the participation in a Lifespan Human Development Course. He states that research findings shows that a prevailing factor that is affecting the elder population today is ageism. Researchers found, that the younger generation, 35 years and younger, are judgmental and in many cases disrespectful and hold some form of prejudice towards older adults. Older adult are often described in negative way and labelled with the following stereotypes such as “Golden angry, Perfect grandparents” (Wurtele’ and Maruyama, p. 59, 2013). Many see them as lonesome, unhappy, or having some form of unidentified illness. These condescending misconceptions are therefore, contributing to ageism against the older people.

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.

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,

The ageing process is a natural process that will happen to each one of us within society. These psychosocial aspects of ageing usually start to happen at an older age, but can also affect a person at a younger age. The theorist has researched and determined that there is three sort of theories that explain and demonstrate the idea, how our biological, psychological and social process changes over time. How these can affect an individual to engage and interact within society, and to adapt to social changes. Unfortunately, within these theories, there may be barriers that will reduce one’s ability to reach their full potential, and this may have an adverse effect on the individual. Not all individuals find themselves in these theories. People that have dementia can become physically and mentally limited. This can have a negative impact on how the individual adapts to the society, how one communicates with others within their community and to family or friends that provide support to ensure they get the best quality of life in the future. Having researched into two of the theories and how they can give us an idea of the changes within the ageing process, one can also determine how changes with in a society can also influence the process of ageing and how an older person may appear to a younger one.

There are other common stereotypes that are used to cast positive view on the older generation that include terms such as having increased experience, being knowledgeable, has constant work habits, holds positive attitudes, have a commitment to quality, loyalty to the company, possess crisis composure and respect for authority. Moreover though, we hear about the negative stereotypes, which consist of being unwilling or unable to adapt to technology, lacking a competitive drive, has physical or mental limitations, requires higher health insurance coverage cost and complacent. Stereotyping can bring about hostile relationships among co-workers, and organizations should foster