An analysis of attitudes and behaviors of young adults toward the aged

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to answer the following questions: How do the attitudes of young adult college students toward old people differ from the attitudes of older adults toward old people? How do the attitudes toward old people of young adults who have had formal training in gerontology and direct work with older people differ from those of young adult college students who have not had such training and work involvement? How do the attitudes of younger and older adults toward old people differ from their self-attitudes projected forward to old age? To answer these questions, two major objectives were posed: (1) to inquire about the perceptions held about old people among three distinct groups of respondents, and (2) to compare and contrast each group in terms of their perceptions of old people and in terms of the conditions found to relate to these perceptions. Two groups of young adult college students (at Stephen F. Austin State University) and one group of older adults were surveyed during the fall of 1975 and the spring of 1976. Questionnaires were given to 245 respondents, and all were returned with 227 containing usable data. Attitudes were measured with two modified forms of the Twenty Statements Test. Respondents were asked to provide answers to each of the questions, "Who Is An Old Person?" and "Who Will I Be When I Become Old?" Predisposition to act was measured by subjects' responses to a hypothetical situation.