Attitudes of Youth Toward Known and General Target Elderly

Abstract

Half of a sample of 275 high school and college students rated "generalized"elderly targets, described only by gender and age, and half rated known elderly. Known elderly were rated more positively than generalized elderly. Within the generalized group, younger targets were rated more favorably than older targets and females more positively than males. This pattern was not replicated in the known target group. The results suggest that given the opportunity, youths use information other than gender and age to evaluate the elderly, but in the absence of additional information, stereotypes of elderly emerge in attitudes of youths toward the elderly.

The Impact of Elder Abuse Education on Young Adults

“…Interest in the attitude-behavior link typically focuses on the examination of moderating variables, particularly target specificity and social desirability (see also Wicker, 1969). That is, in the absence of additional information (i.e., when targets are general, as opposed to specific), stereotypes of elderly people, which are often negative, are likely to emerge (Sanders & Pittman, 1988). However, the lack of the distinction between and an understanding of the relationship between attitudes, intentions, and behaviors continue to be problems in investigating attitudes toward older people.…”

How Experiences in a Nursing Home Affect Nursing Students’ Perceptions of the Elderly

“…For example, researchers have studied attitudes of pharmacy students (Shepherd & Erwin, 1983), medical students (Intrieri, Kelly, Brown, & Castilla, 1993), physical therapists (Wong, 1993), nursing students (Downe-Wamboldt & Melanson, 1990;Eddy, 1986;Gomez, Otto, Blattstein, & Gomez, 1985;Gomez, Young, & Gomez, 1991), youth (Sanders & Pittman, 1988;Sisk, 1987), and college students (Shoemake & Rowland, 1993). Palmore (1982) stated, "Most people have mixed feelings about various aspects of old age and tend to rate old age positively on some dimensions and negatively on others" (p. 341).…”

Attitude Changes of Dietetic Students Performing Nutritional Assessment on Healthy Elderly

“…For example, a group of students rated known elderly more positively than generalized elderly. When given only information on gender and age, the students tended to stereotype the elderly (Sanders & Pittman, 1987). Conversely, various researchers report that student attitudes and perceptions about the elderly improve or become more positive as students' interactions with and knowledge of the elderly increase (Bachelder, 1989; L i & Zeppa, 1987;Murphy-Russell, Die & Walker, 1986;Sanders & Pittman, 1987;Todd, Rider & Page-Robin, 1986).…”

“…Early studies grouped the elderly into one homogeneous population and as noted by Sanders and Pittman (1987) this may have contributed to stereotyping. For example, a group of students rated known elderly more positively than generalized elderly.…”