As the demographics of age shift towards supporting an older population, age-based discrimination needs to be addressed due to its impact on not only physical, but mental health as well. There are many factors that need to be considered to assess the ageism and overall attitudes that undergraduate students have for aging, the aging process, and older adults. These factors include aging anxiety, knowledge, attitudes, experiences with older adults, and undergraduate expectations regarding aging. I hypothesize that those who have anxiety, less knowledge on the aging process, little experience, negative attitudes with older adults, and have low expectations regarding aging, will hold more ageist views of older adults. These factors were considered by using Fraboni’s Scale of Ageism, the Aging Anxiety Scale, Attitudes to Aging Questionnaire, Expectations Regarding Aging scale, the Facts on Aging quiz, and open-ended questions to determine undergraduate views of older adults, aging and the aging process more holistically. Overall, students reported having negative attitudes towards aging themselves, but more positive attitudes towards older adults. Implications of this study include understanding the views of younger generations to eliminate misinformation on aging to improve the physical and mental well-being of these individuals into older age (Levy et al., 2018). For future research, it would be interesting to see the differences between genders, but also differing majors as well. Since different majors focus on different concepts and problems facing society, it would be interesting to see how each major differs in their views on aging, the aging process, and older adults (Kalavar, 2001). As a Gerontology major and a Pre-Medical student at Miami, I hope to be able to use the insight I have gained in this study to understand views students have about older adults and how those views could potentially impact their own physical and mental health.
Author: Cassidy White
Advisors: Elise Radina, Family Science and Social Work
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