Ageism in students of psychology and medicine and its relationship with religiosity

Abstract

More and more, the elderly population is assuming a fundamental role in the structure of our society. However, this advancement does not appear to be matched by a change in the subconscious of many people in contemporary society who still tend to nurse a certain stigma with regard to old age. Ageism is the term that represents prejudice against and discrimination of the elderly and the ageing process. Religiosity has been suggested as one of the protective factors against ageism. In order to investigate the relationship between ageism and religiosity in future health professionals, this article describes a study carried out with students of Psychology and Medicine in a university in the Federal District of Brasilia. A total of 88 Psychology and 80 Medicine undergraduates took part in the study. The Fraboni Scale of Ageism and the Duke Scale of Religiosity were employed. The results show a predominance of positive attitudes towards the elderly, a prevalence of religious believers in both groups studied as well as a modest relationship between ageism and religiosity. The implications for training in the area of health are discussed