The Significance of Age Categories for Older Persons

Attitudes toward older adults: The perceived value of grandparent as a social role

“…Because student age was correlated positively with the estimated age of older people in general but not with the estimated age of typical grandparents, older students appeared to distance themselves from membership in the category of older people in general, but not from the category of typical grandparent. This finding is consistent with more general findings in which both younger age cohorts show an aversion to the labels of "old" and "elderly" (Anderson, 1967). In sum, this age related aversion appears to highlight the distinction between the older person, who receives a generally negative attribution, and the title of grandparent, which is related to a typically positive event.…”

“…Because more negative stereotypes have been ascribed to old-older adults as compared to young-older adults (Hummert, 1990(Hummert, , 1993, students in Slotterback et al's (1993) study may have perceived typical grandparents and older adults as significantly older than their own, known grandparents. Such negativity towards increased age has been reported in more general contexts in which middle-aged and older adults sought to avoid the labels of "old" and "elderly" (Anderson, 1967).…”

“…This study is unique in that the estimated ages of older adults and typical grandparents, and the actual ages of college students' own grandparents, were used to examine whether possible differences in older adult categories' evaluations are more likely to be a function of age bias, social roles and stereotypes, or individual contact. If older adults, typical grandparents, and known (i.e., their own) grandparents are viewed as dissimilar in age, general findings by Anderson (1967) and Hummert (1990Hummert ( , 1993 suggest that the category of older adults with the oldest estimated, or actual, age would be ascribed the most negative characteristics. In contrast, if these categories of older adults are viewed as similar in age, differences in attitudes may be a result of stereotyping (Hummert, 1990) and social roles.…”

An Empirical Validation of the Methodology for Measuring Self-Perceived Age in the Middle Eastern Market

“…For some consumers, this may be because old age is often viewed as a stigma. Consequently, it has long been argued that the aging individual may come to regard his or her advancing years with the same negative attitudes held by the rest of society (Anderson, 1967). Thus, to disassociate themselves from an undesirable sub-group, the aged in our society often tend to identify more with younger age segments than with their own age cohorts (Eastman and Iyer, 2012; Van Auken, Barry and Bagozzi, 2006).…”

Marital role expectations for middle-aged and older men and women

“…Anderson (1967) com mented on the potential for a role of old age which would provide older persons with normative expectations and rights but concluded that studies demonstrating the existence of such expectations for the aged role were not available. Wood (1971) noted that at the point of retirement the primary achieved roles, which provide the major role proscriptions for adults, are lost, and that the individual is left with a few marginal achieved roles and the ascribed ones such as age.…”