Have College Students' Attitudes toward Older People Changed?.

Abstract

Attitudes toward age were assessed in 1979 and again in 1988. MANOVA results indicated that older people are still not equally accepted in many situations. In recent years, increased attention has been paid toward older people and their role in our society. Much of the discussion has focused on an increased sensitivity toward age issues. Yet popular media expose us to older people on a daily basis, representing them most often as negative and stereotypic. Older people are underrepresented in commercials and when they are featured, they are portrayed as “young-old” (rarely bald or wrinkled). When portrayed as characters, they are given nondescript roles. Only 1 % of television portrayals provide an overt positive view of being old (Hiemstra, Goodman, Middlemiss, Vosco, & Ziegler, 1983). Increased representation of older people in our society has coincided with an increase in researching attitudes toward older people (Celio, Sedlacek, & Schlossberg, 1977; Peabody & Sedlacek, 1982). As a result of the increased attention toward age issues, it is possible that age stereotyping has declined. It is also possible that it has merely become more difficult to document. Prejudice toward older people has been studied in a variety of settings. Often in jobinterviewing situations, prejudicial attitudes are exposed. Gordon, Rozelle, and Baxter (1988) had participants rate male and female job applicants. The applicants were role-played, unbeknownst to the participants. When participants were asked for their impressions, they decreased

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