Purpose: Reluctance to reveal sensitive or socially undesirable attitudes has posed a problem for measurement of personal attributes such as attitudes toward older people. These have long been documented to be negative and likely arise both from fears of one's own aging and the modern societal emphasis on youth. In order to increase our knowledge…

Purpose: The impact of major depression on quality of life (QOL) and aging experiences in older adults has been reported. Studies have demonstrated that the clinical diagnosis of major depression is the strongest predictor for QOL. We postulate that some findings are biased because of the use of inadequate instruments. Although subsyndromal…

Purpose: This study explored aspects of stigmatization for older adults who live in residential care or assisted living (RC-AL) communities and what these settings have done to address stigma. Design and Methods: We used ethnography and other qualitative data-gathering and analytic techniques to gather data from 309 participants (residents, family…

Examined role of misperceptions in a Congressional debate about policies for the aging. Found that misperceptions about the elderly, in the guise of compassionate stereotypes, were frequently expressed. Legislators voicing such stereotypes were the most likely to speak and vote against proposals to reduce Social Security benefits. Found some…

Replicated Tringo's research measuring respondents attitudes about various groups. Results indicated positive shift in attitudes toward older persons. Discusses findings in terms of Harasymiw's continuum of normalcy, Tibbitts' view regarding improving societal attitudes toward older people, and Schonfield's conclusion that Americans do not hold…

Argues that although many publications imply that a negative attitude toward older people is common, evidence does not support this judgment. Reports a study in which participants were allowed to give their opinions on the number of exceptions to generalizations about the elderly. Suggests possible motives for misinterpreting evidence. (Author)

Discusses research suggesting that television viewing contributes to negative attitudes and low levels of knowledge about older people. Using the same data set and measurements, concludes that the effect of television viewing on knowledge and attitudes about older people is small and restricted to younger people. (NRB)

Contends that attitudes of nursing home personnel have been measured inappropriately with scales based on negative stereotypes and inaccurate knowledge about the aged in the general population. Reconceptualizes attitudes from attitudes towards older people to attitudes towards behavior essential to the care of nursing home patients. (Author/ABL)

Explored attitudes toward the elderly of nursing personnel (N=101) employed in long-term care settings. Also investigated the impact of an experiential education program on the attitudes of nursing personnel providing daily care for the aged. Results tend to contradict several popularly held beliefs. (Author/ABB)

Explored the effects of visits to infirm elders in a nursing home setting on 30 preschool children's attitudes toward the elderly. After the visits preschoolers held more negative attitudes toward their own aging and toward the elderly, but day care and nursing home staffs believed the visits to be of benefit to children and elders. (Author/ABB)

Analyzed the consequences of incontinence for both the family members caring for the incontinent elderly and for the elderly. Found that incontinence was related to perceived negative affect in family relations and to considering an alternative care arrangement. Suggests that interventions directed to the management of incontinence may help to…

Describes effort to dispel ageist attitudes in medical students in which medical students participated in weekly health seminars and provided health counseling for older adults living in community. Notes that exposing students to healthy elderly persons began to dispel stereotypical views engendered by previous exposure to only frail, acutely ill,…

Presented 192 clinical psychologists with clinical vignettes in which client ages varied. Respondents rated older depressed and older agoraphobic clients as significantly less ideal than younger clients with identical symptoms and histories. Older depressed and manic clients also were given significantly poorer prognoses than younger clients.…

Altering negative attitudes associated with ageism may be possible by giving people accurate information about older people in conjunction with reinforcement for change. This study, which involved 99 college students, supports the premise that negative attitudes toward older people are amenable; however, the new attitude may be lost without…