No abstract

Ageism refers to stereotypes about and prejudice against individuals on the basis of age. Ageism among young adults may be different than other forms of intolerance simply because age changes; that is, young adults will grow older, and they will eventually become a member of what is presently an outgroup (i.e., older adults). The purpose of this study was to investigate whether ageism among young adults (N = 623) is more closely associated with future-oriented variables (i.e., optimism and fear of death) or whether ageism more closely resembles an outgroup attitude, which like other outgroup attitudes is mitigated by knowledge about and quality of contact with those outgroup members. Bivariate correlations found that knowledge of aging, quality of contact with older adults, and optimism were associated with lower ageism. In a multiple regression analysis, only knowledge about aging and quality of contact with older adults were associated with lower ageism. Overall, the results suggest that ageism represents more of an outgroup attitude rather than a future-oriented attitude. These results support the contact hypothesis in that knowledge of aging and quality of contact with older adults were associated with lower ageism among young adults. Education about aging and quality contact with older adults may be effective ways to reduce ageism among young adults.

Objective Previous research has linked off-topic verbosity (OTV) among older adults with lower performance on neuropsychological tests tapping attention and executive functioning. However, most of this research has utilized relatively brief neurocognitive measures. Continuous performance tests (CPTs) measure sustained attention and impulsivity. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between sustained attention, impulsivity, and tangentiality of speech among young adults and older adults. Method Young adult college students (age 18-29; n= 61) and healthy, community-dwelling older adults (age 60-99; n = 81) were administered the Conners’ Continuous Performance Test – 3 and provided a sample of speech (one episodic memory and one procedural memory). These speech samples were transcribed and rated for tangentiality by three independent reviewers. Results Among all participants, greater tangentiality of speech was associated with omission errors (r = .22, p = .01) but not with commission errors. This same pattern was found among older adults: omission errors (r = .23, p = .04) were associated with greater tangentiality but commission errors were not. Among young adults, these relationships were not statistically significant. Conclusions Results suggest that tangentiality of speech is associated with inattentiveness but not impulsivity, and this relationship may be more marked among older adults than young adults. OTV among older adults may stem from difficulty sustaining attention over time rather than diminished capacity for inhibiting impulses.

A large body of research has found that individuals’ attitudes toward aging may influence their future health. Previous research has found that age is associated with more negative expectations toward aging. However, it is possible that optimism, or generalized positive expectancies regarding future outcomes may play a role in expectations regarding aging. Optimism has been identified as a key component of successful aging. The purpose of this study was to compare expectations regarding aging among young adult and older adult age cohorts, controlling for optimism, and to investigate the differential relationships between optimism and expectations regarding aging by age cohort. Young adults (n = 130) and older adults (n = 335) completed a survey containing the Expectations Regarding Aging – 12 and the Optimism-Pessimism Scale. Results found that, after controlling for optimism, older adults endorsed more negative expectations regarding aging. Comparison of the correlation coefficients between optimism and expectations regarding aging among age cohorts found that optimism was significantly associated with expectations regarding aging among older adults but not young adults and that this difference was significant. Taken together, the results suggest that older adults have more negative expectations for aging and that optimism may play a key role in older adults’ expectations regarding aging.