Some Correlates of Attitudes towards Old People

Abstract

A group of 103 undergraduate students responded to a semantic differential measure of the attitude toward old men, and to a number of measures assessing potential correlates of this attitude. Attempts were also made to assess the validity of an indirect measure of the attitude toward elderly. Older men were evaluated less positively; they were judged less decisive, and instrumental as compared with younger men. Of all the variables studied only two were significantly related to attitudes toward older men, i.e., socioeconomic status of parents and frequency of contact with elderly. The outcomes with regard to the validity of the indirect measure of attitudes were ambiguous at best.