A Quantitative Study on Aging and the Evaluation of Attitudes towards Aging: The Adiyaman University Example

Abstract

Aging has become an essential social phenomenon in developing countries. The underlying reason is the demographic aging conceptualized as the increase in the number of the elders within the general population. The demographic structure which changes rapidly transforms attitudes towards aging and the significance of the relationship between cultural patterns into an important social phenomenon which needs to be examined in the sociological aspects. Attitudes developed by the society towards aging and elderliness which contain the cultural codes of the society and doesn’t actualize independent from the social values vary according to time. Within this context, the study aims to examine at which level is the perception of two different generations (y and z) towards aging and elderliness in the demographically aging populations. In this study, Elderliness and Aging Attitudes Scale was implemented whose validity and reliability had been tested before. As a result of the data obtained, aging and negative attitudes towards old age are associated with the decline in the social status of the elderly. The developments that cause the elderly to be dependent on others have been evaluated as one of the important causes of aging and negative attitudes towards old age. It has been observed that the attitude towards aging and aging negatively affects active aging, and withdrawal from life, which is the opposite of active aging, increases addiction. In the research, the low social status of the elderly was associated with aging and attitudes towards aging.