Ageism: stereotyping and prejudice against older persons

Contents......Page 6
Preface......Page 10
Contributors......Page 16
I Origins of Ageism......Page 18
1 Doddering but Dear: Process, Content, and Function in Stereotyping of Older Persons......Page 20
Social-Psychological Processes of Stereotyping......Page 21
Stereotype Content......Page 24
Functions of Stereotyping......Page 31
Conclusion......Page 34
2 Ageism: Denying the Face of the Future......Page 44
The Elderly and the Threat of Death......Page 45
Terror Management Theory......Page 47
Terror Management and Ageism......Page 54
Implications of Terror Management Theory for Reducing Ageism......Page 58
Conclusion......Page 61
3 Implicit Ageism......Page 66
Implicit Ageism: Background......Page 69
Implicit Association Test......Page 70
Stereotype Priming......Page 73
The Impact of Implicit Age Stereotypes on the Elderly......Page 74
The Development of Implicit Ageism......Page 80
Reducing Negative Implicit Age Stereotypes......Page 85
What Do Children Know about Age?......Page 94
What Are Children’s Attitudes Toward Older Adults?......Page 98
How Can We Explain Children’s Attitudes Toward Older Adults?......Page 110
Where Do We Go from Here?......Page 128
Conclusion......Page 131
II Effects of Ageism......Page 144
5 Attitudes Toward Older Adults......Page 146
What Is Ageism?......Page 147
Historical Perspectives......Page 148
When Does Old Age Begin?......Page 150
Age-Based Stereotypes......Page 152
Social Role Perspective......Page 155
Is Youth an Advantage?......Page 156
Attitudes Toward Older Workers......Page 158
Gender and Aging......Page 159
Do Perceivers Believe Memory is the First Thing to Go?......Page 162
Are Young People Particularly Ageist?......Page 163
Social Identity Theory......Page 164
Culture......Page 169
Conclusion......Page 170
6 Ageism in the Workplace: A Communication Perspective......Page 180
Intergenerational Communication and Workplace Ageism Research: Their Merging......Page 181
Ageist Stereotypes: Societal and Organizational......Page 183
Age Discrimination and the Legal Arena......Page 193
Proving Age Discrimination......Page 196
Epilogue: Theoretical and Empirical Agendas......Page 201
Behavior—Ageist and Age Differentiated......Page 218
The Faces of Aging......Page 219
Age-Differentiated Behavior......Page 222
Is Age-Differentiated Behavior Ageist?......Page 245
Gaps in the Evidence: A Research Agenda......Page 250
Conclusion......Page 253
The Nature of Aging Stereotypes: Myth and Reality......Page 264
The Paradox of Well-Being and Successful Aging......Page 267
Theorized Processes of Maintaining Well-Being in Later Life......Page 268
The Identity Assimilation Effect: How Individuals May Ward off the Effects of Ageism......Page 272
Identity Styles: On the Road to Individual Differences in Reactions to Ageism......Page 277
The Priming of Poorer Performance by Ageist Stereotypes: Evidence from the Laboratory......Page 282
Negative Stereotype Threat and Ageism......Page 283
Conclusion......Page 285
III Reducing Ageism and Future Directions......Page 292
9 Acting Your Age......Page 294
Beyond Stereotypes: Toward a Mindful Understanding of Aging......Page 295
Mindful Acceptance of Age-Related Stereotypes......Page 302
The Downward Spiral of Stereotype Confirmation......Page 305
Conclusion: A New Meaning of Acting Your Age......Page 309
10 Will Families Support their Elders? Answers from Across Cultures......Page 312
Family Support......Page 313
Filial Piety......Page 316
Hierarchy of Filial Obligations......Page 318
Correlates of Filial Obligations......Page 320
Conclusion......Page 322
11 Reducing Ageism......Page 328
Reducing Negative Stereotypes of old Age......Page 330
Reducing Prejudice Toward the Elderly......Page 332
Reducing Stigma in Relation to the Elderly......Page 334
Reducing the Fear of Aging......Page 340
The Interrelationships among Stereotypes, Prejudice, Stigma, and Fear of Aging......Page 341
Ageist Ideology versus Discrimination......Page 342
Caregiving, Stress, and Stigma......Page 346
A Ten-Point Plan for Ageism Reduction......Page 348
12 Thirty Years of Ageism Research......Page 356
The Definition of Ageism......Page 357
Areas of Inquiry within Ageism Research......Page 358
Consequences of Ageism Research for Gerontology......Page 370
A......Page 376
C......Page 378
E......Page 380
F......Page 381
I......Page 382
L......Page 383
O......Page 384
P......Page 385
S......Page 386
V......Page 388
Y......Page 389