Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood? Neighborhood Age Composition and Age Discrimination

Abstract

Age discrimination is pervasive in the United States, yet little is known about the social contexts in which it occurs. Older persons spend much of their time in their neighborhoods, where a density of other older persons may protect against age discrimination. Extending group density theory to age, we analyze data from 1,561 older adults from the second wave of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States, using neighborhood-level data from the 2010 U.S. census. We examine (1) whether the concentration of older neighborhood residents influences perceived age discrimination and (2) whether that influence varies by age. Results indicate that the density of older residents protects against age discrimination for individuals entering old age but it is decreasingly influential as individuals approach oldest-old age and report less age discrimination regardless of neighborhood age composition. We discuss the implications of these findings for theory on age discrimination.

Sticks and Stones: Perceived Age Discrimination, Well-Being, and Health Over a 20-Year Period

“…Yet the United States may be somewhat less ageist than elsewhere, with perceived age discrimination reported more frequently in England, for example, than in the United States (Rippon, Zaninotto, & Steptoe, 2015). Notably, although age as a reported reason for perceived discrimination increases with age, older adults are less likely than younger adults to report experiencing discrimination overall (e.g., Gee et al, 2007;Stokes & Moorman, 2016).…”

“…There are traits such as neuroticism (Bryant et al, 2016) or low openness and agreeableness (Allan, Johnson, & Emerson, 2014) that relate to one's beliefs about age and aging. Additionally, some settings may subject individuals to more age discrimination than others, as the likelihood of experiencing age discrimination depends in part upon whom one is exposed to on a regular basis (e.g., Stokes & Moorman, 2016). It seems most likely that both processes are at work: Between-persons differences in perceived age discrimination are a function of person-environment fit.…”

“…Further, age discrimination makes people feel lonely (Lee & Bierman, 2019) and badly about how they are aging, which leads to symptoms of depression (Han & Richardson, 2015). Discrimination on the basis of age is also often a new experience for people as they enter midlife and later life, so while the harms of other forms of discrimination are likely to accumulate steadily across the life course (e.g., Blank, 2005), age discrimination may be an emerging stressor-and one for which individuals have not yet developed effective coping mechanisms (e.g., Garstka, Schmitt, Branscombe, & Hummert et al, 2004;Stokes & Moorman, 2016).…”

Older Adults’ Engagement in Senior University Lectures and the Effect of Individual Motivations

“…This is important for any form of vocational education, not just courses for older adults. Because this population group that is more vulnerable to social isolation (Nicholson, 2012), cognitive impairments (Plassman et al, 2008), and age discrimination (Stokes and Moorman, 2016), these types of educational programs provide older adults with the possibility of strengthening their skills, maintaining and extending their social contacts, and enhancing their feeling of being a vital part of society. Proximity to the venue in which the courses are offered is one factor that seems to be crucial for lecture attendance.…”

Relationship to Place for Older Adults in a New York City Neighborhood Undergoing Gentrification: A Discourse Analysis

“…Living in a gentrifying neighborhood can improve the physical health of vulnerable older adults-when compared to their counterparts in poor neighborhoods-but can also be related to higher rates of depressive and anxiety symptoms (Kim, Lehning, and Smith 2018). Having older adults in a neighborhood, or density in neighborhood composition, was associated with lesser amounts of ageist practices (Stokes and Moorman 2016). Galcanova and Sykorova (2015) found older adults could navigate neighborhood change while maintaining their identity and sense of place.…”