Negative Stereotypes Of Aging

Through the journey, one must consider many aging factors and decide if these are true generalizations of aging or are myths of aging propagated by the movie. Specifically, the myths that will be examined in this paper are: 1) Are there life experiences that contribute to depression in the elderly population? 2) How do vision and hearing impairments affect an older adult's overall mental status? And finally, 3) is there any relation between having a physical mobility deficits and depression? Through this examination of my propagated in "UP", the reader will gain better insight into what are true generalizations vs. myths about the elderly.

I really enjoyed the lecture on Ageism; it was very interesting and educational. I was surprised with the 20 True or False question on what is your aging I.Q. We do have different concept about elderly or older people, however after watching the lecture I have learned more true understanding about ageism. Ageism is when you judge people based on age. Unfortunately, I was surprised when this can be called as prejudice and stereotypes. I use to receive elderly jokes through email, which was really hilarious but didn’t think as being prejudice or stereotypes.

There is a popular belief that older people fear death. Members of my family have told me they dislike seeing the doctor by reason of receiving awful news. Since hearing those stories I was afraid of going to the doctor. Now that I am older I do not believe every diagnosis is going to be dreadful. So to answer the question, yes, my view has changed on that particular stereotype. Another stereotype is different ethnicities age slower than others, and I truly believe this. For example, my mother is 59, but people will approach the two of us and ask if we are sisters. The substance melanin is produced by the body that helps to protect skin from harmful sun rays. Those with darker skin tones produce more melanin so they do not age as fast as others.

Negative stereotypes of aging is a life time of ill health, dependency, loneliness and bad physical or mental functioning. However, with age come wisdom, wealthy, peace and fulfillment. This stereotypes makes older adults being force into early retirement, not being considered for job opportunities and sometimes being overlooked

Firstly, I would agree with you on older adults being seen in the mass media as fragile and a burden, creating ageist generalizations. Yet, there are a small number of messages, which exhibit the elderly in a decent light. On the other hand, Robnett and Chop (2015) discovered, that there have been continuing improvements over the past 50 years in attitudes towards the elderly owing to greater public education, improved media attention, and supplementary optimistic role models in the television and movies (p. 20). Nevertheless, ageist stereotypes still exist, as individuals do not have comprehension about the consequence it has on older adults in the community. Moreover, it was well considered to specify three issues, which emerge from stereotyping

Aging should not be a weakness but instead a strength for an individual. With age comes wisdom, we jump to stereotypes and conclusions believing an elderly is weak mentally and physically. Our chapter mentioned how elderly become less confident with their memory due to stereotype threat. Since this reduces memory performance as we age. In addition, stereotype threat is a condition when people conform to the stereotypes of a social group (Whitbourne,2014).

Aging is presented in various different ways in the news, but it typically has a negative stereotype associated with it. The media is known for its glorification of being young, making the thought of becoming older repulsive to many. This negative association with aging can have a harmful impact on individuals as the years go by. For example, there could be a possible link between Alzheimer’s and changes occurring in the brain as a result of this negative stereotyping. On the other hand however, the media will also show aging in a positive light and how aging not just associated with decreasing health and quality of life. In doing so, the media will portray elderly individuals who defy the odds by doing remarkable feats, such as Georgina Harwood who went skydiving and cage diving with sharks at the age of 100.

Generally, modern society reinforces negative perceptions of the process of aging, and it is often portrayed in society as being a lonely and depressing experience. These perceptions are important because elderly individuals that have a positive outlook on aging have been linked to better health and psychological well-being. This study explores the impact of negative and positive perceptions of aging, held by society, and how they influence aging individuals.

I think that sometimes the older generation will stereotypically think that the younger generation is lazy, irresponsible, ungrateful and that they have no respect for others. The older generation may feel that the younger generation has no moral values, that they are spoiled, and that they think they know it all. The younger generation may feel that the older generation is inflexible, that they are set in their ways, and that they are technologically unskilled. I think that these commonly formed opinions about different generations can create views that divide us. I feel that each generation could learn from the other if they are open and willing to do so.

mistakes were due to more specific factors, such as having a bad day or losing a loved one (Rupp et al., 2006).

I do think as a society we judge older adults. I think everyone does this. Even though they do not dwell on the thought. I think everyone first initial thought is the on their personality or abilities of older adults. I think this is a natural thought that comes to mind of young adults. People act differently towards older adults than they do younger ones. People judge older adults on how they look and form a judgment on their capabilities and the type of person they are. But older adults can surprise you. That is why it is important not to judge a book by its cover. Young adults stereotype older adult;s with slow cognitive functioning. A big stereotype of older adults that they do not have the best reasoning. Cavanaugh and Blanchard-Fields

We observe older people in our families and communities and make generalizations about them. For example, some stereotypes of older people may be the result of unconscious theorizing about the meaning of growing old. Or, we may devise our own recommendations for policies or programs based on our informal and implicit theories. In effect, we all develop theories based on our own

The observation that I take out of this finding is that some older adults have positive views on the way they are aging, making them adoptive to the aging process and they are able to cope better as life continues to go on. According to S. Wurm and Y. Benyamini, authors of Optimism buffers the detrimental effect of negative self-perceptions of ageing on physical and mental health (2014), “Positive [self-perception of aging (SPA)] were found to be related to better health behaviours over two decades” (833). Again, older people who go through life normally will crave the stereotypes on ageing because younger people who are on the outside looking in will pick up on a certain vibe from the older adults and see that they are comfortable in their skin. The younger people will get to understand that ageing is not so bad after all. They will see that they should respect the elderly because getting older is part of wisdom and power, and these young people should take note of that so they can one day live to see 65 to 85. Seeing the way that older people are living longer and carrying themselves will make the young people think to themselves that this is the way ageing should be, and if ageing looks like this then there is no doubt in their minds that it would not be an issue for them to go through this journey. They note how healthy living through

Currently, social work practice with depressed older adults encompasses a variety of treatment modalities, some originating as far back as fifty years ago or more. It is imperative that social workers have the knowledge that allows them to distinguish those interventions that are not efficacious in treating depression in later life from those that are. At the same time, social workers must use their clinical skills to determine the degree of modification an intervention may need to be applicable to the cultural, racially, and ethnically diverse older adult population. In the same vein, they also need to develop evidence-based practices specifically for the older adult populations with consideration to age-associated changes in physiology, cognition, and social functioning that have the potential to threaten the effectiveness of a variety of interventions” (Dums et al.,

When I was back to China, I once believed that only the older people used stereotypes, because they are bigot and stubborn,without knowing it ,the way I think about the older is one of those many bias, we all have our own point of view to see this world either positive or negative ways. If I never meet a new group people, the first impression I get is always from the social media, people can easily use stereotype to make jokes about others in the movie or in the talk show, the stereotype could be transmissible, sometimes even make yourself to believe it, oh i'm Asian, I'm supposed to be good at math. The way to avoid that is to communicate with the people you met, to learn their culture. sometimes could be unavoidable, but try to not judge