Sixty-Five Isn't What it Used to Be: Changes and Trends in the Perceptions of Older Adults

Abstract

Introduction With increasing life expectancy, can look forward to more after age sixty-five than previous generations, many with better health, financial stability, and increased expectations of social activity. Yet, many Americans feel that the golden years are anything but idyllic, perceiving that face a lonely life filled with health, financial, and medical worries. However, as the baby boomer generation has approached that stage in the life course, more Americans are confronted with a changing image of what it means to be sixty-five or older. Given the fluctuating portrayal of in television, (1) advertising, (2) and in popular magazines, (3) Americans may perceive differently from previous generations. These shifting perceptions of and the concerns they face not only impact how society sees these individuals and the roles they fill, but also how members of society anticipate the aging process and the expectations they have for themselves. Using two studies- Myth and Reality of Aging (4) from 1974 and the American Perceptions of Aging in the 21st Century (5) from 2000- we discuss changing trends in perceptions of sixty-five or older. Specifically, we explore the following questions: 1) how are the lives perceived?; 2) how have perceptions of changed over the last thirty-five years?; and 3) how might the baby boomer generation influence perceptions of the lives of adults? Aging Stereotypes Theories looking to explain stereotypes suggest that they perform a variety of functions, from providing shortcuts when making judgments about unknown individuals or situations, (6) to a reaction to various social roles, (7) to helping to form social identity. (8) Though stereotypes can be both negative and positive, they are more likely to be negative and lacking in recognition of variance when about members of out-groups as opposed to those held about an individual's ingroup. (9) In addition, demographic variables such as age, race, and gender can trigger and specific types of stereotypes that are primed from social cues and interactions (10) primarily because American culture is filled with information that reinforces these stereotypes. (11) Studies on portrayals of suggest that aging stereotypes form early in childhood (12) and fortification of these perceptions occurs throughout adulthood. (13) Beyond influencing how individuals view and the aging process, the internalization of these stereotypes can lead to assumptions about one's own aging process. As people age, stereotypes are further enhanced by negative images found throughout daily life. Implicit attitudes toward aging, often originating from past experiences and encounters, can be characterized as automatic associations people have between an object and evaluation. (14) In contrast to implicit attitudes, explicit attitudes toward aging might be a more premeditated response to a more recent event. Often these internalized forms of reinforcement will go unrecognized because the events do not immediately pertain to that individual. (15) As a consequence, aging stereotypes become aging self-stereotypes once people reach an age for which the stereotypes become relevant. For decades, primes such as family, community, and media have reinforced aging stereotypes internalized during childhood making them selfstereotypes that often pass from generation to generation. (16) Even labels used for adults, such as elderly, aged, or senior citizen, can convey the stereotypes of frailty, ill-health, and senility. That is why it is more common, particularly in gerontology and sociology, to use the terms older adults or elders when referring to individuals aged sixty-five or older, as these labels carry more positive connotations. (17) Thus, aging stereotypes exist across the life course, and are reinforced by messages continuously provided through various aspects in society and, as an individual ages, experiences combine with these messages to provide an oftennegative view that can affect perceptions of self-aging. …

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