The Role of Ageism in Climate Change Worries and Willingness to Act

Ayalon, Liat; Roy, Senjooti

doi:10.1177/07334648221130323

Cited by 12 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 42 publications

(49 reference statements)

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“…In their effort to shine light upon such injustices and climate inaction, many activists have taken refuge in sentiments that may negatively impact intergenerational relations. A recent study has found that negative views about older adults may motivate people to deeply consider the impacts of climate change and increase their willingness to pay higher taxes in support of climate action [35]. Negative perceptions, however, may also lead to increased ageism towards older adults who might feel unfairly victimized and withdraw support from climate action, thereby increasing the risk to the health and wellbeing of all.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intergenerational Relations in the Climate Movement: Bridging the Gap toward a Common Goal

Roy

Ayalon

2022

IJERPH

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The call for climate action has attracted global support, especially among youth. Over time, climate discourse has turned increasingly hostile toward both younger and older generations, potentially engendering intergenerational conflict when intergenerational cooperation is most needed. Using a purposive sampling method, we selected a sample of 50 international influential individuals to gain an overview of the common views in current climate discourse to examine how they may impact intergenerational relations. We used a summative content analysis approach to analyze the different worldviews. The results are broadly divided into two categories—messages of intergenerational tension and messages of intergenerational solidarity. We found that although both types of messaging communicate similar facts and concerns, their presentation may either unite or divide different generations. Therefore, to work toward a common future for the benefit for all ages, it is essential for polarizing and accusatory sentiments to be replaced with messages of inclusivity and cooperation. This may be facilitated through intergenerational contact and interventions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intergenerational Relations in the Climate Movement: Bridging the Gap toward a Common Goal

Roy

Ayalon

2022

IJERPH

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“…Next, respondents were asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement with the following attitudinal, emotional and behavioral climate change items, respectively: “climate change is a real phenomenon that impacts earth”; “I worry about the impact of climate change on my life;” “I worry about the impact of climate change on younger members of the family:” “I worry about the impact of climate change on older members of the family:” “I am willing to pay higher taxes to fight climate change.” These items were ranked on a seven-point scale, ranging from fully disagree to fully agree. Climate change items have shown evidence of face validity based on experts’ assessment and were used in past research [ 35 , 36 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age differences in the context of climate change: Does exposure to a fake consensus statement make a difference?

Ayalon

2024

PLoS ONE

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The present study examined whether people of different age groups respond differently to a true versus fake consensus statement concerning climate change. In total, 309 participants were randomly exposed to a true consensus statement about climate change and 311 were exposed to a false statement. Subsequently, respondents were asked to respond to items about attitudes, feelings, and behavioral intentions concerning climate change. Compared with younger people, older persons are significantly more concerned about climate change, more likely to report that climate change is real and more willing to take climate change action. Nevertheless, older persons also are more likely to be willing to post both fake and truthful information about climate change, thus, possibly serving as spreaders of both fake and truthful information. The findings suggest that it is younger people who will benefit from further education about climate change and older people who may benefit from education about the spread of information in social media. Our findings also suggest that simply providing individuals with consensus information has only limited impact on their climate change attitudes, feelings and behavioral intentions.

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“…Climate change anxiety among the young (Wu et al, 2020 ), coupled with a strong emphasis on personal responsibility for climate change, may actually increase ageism. Possibly blaming others (e.g., holding prescriptive ageist views toward older people) serves as an incentive to take climate change action (Ayalon & Roy 2023 ). In 2019, the phrase “OK, Boomer” went viral on social media platforms, and became a slogan for “Millennials” who felt “Baby Boomers” were out‐of‐touch with modern problems such as global climate change (Meisner, 2021 ).…”

Section: Intergenerational Conflict and Ageismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geroscience and climate science: Oppositional or complementary?

Farrelly

2023

Aging Cell

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Two of this century's most significant public health challenges are climate change and healthy aging. The future of humanity will be both warmer and older than it is today. Is it socially responsible, in a warming planet of a population exceeding 8 billion people, for science to aspire to develop gerotherapeutic drugs that aim to reduce the burden of aging‐related diseases that may also increase lifespan? This question is the “elephant in the room” for geroscience advocacy. Science communication concerning what constitutes empirically valid and morally defensible ways of navigating the dual public health predicaments of climate change and healthy aging must be sensitive to both the interdependence of the environment (including planetary health) and the mechanisms of aging, as well as the common (mis)perceptions about the potential conflict between the goals of climate science and geroscience. Geroscience advocacy can transcend narratives of intergenerational conflict by highlighting the shared aspirations of climate science and geroscience, such as the goals of promoting health across the lifespan, redressing health disparities, and improving the economic prospects of current and future generations.

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The Role of Ageism in Climate Change Worries and Willingness to Act

Cited by 12 publications

References 42 publications

Intergenerational Relations in the Climate Movement: Bridging the Gap toward a Common Goal

Intergenerational Relations in the Climate Movement: Bridging the Gap toward a Common Goal

Age differences in the context of climate change: Does exposure to a fake consensus statement make a difference?

Geroscience and climate science: Oppositional or complementary?

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