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Ageism among Israeli students: structure and demographic influences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2008

Ehud Bodner  and
Aryeh Lazar
Ehud Bodner*
Affiliation:
Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
Aryeh Lazar
Affiliation:
Department of Behavioral Sciences, Ariel University Center of Samaria, Israel
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Dr. Ehud Bodner, Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel. Phone: +972 3 5318276; Fax: +972 3 5353329. Email: bodnere@mail.biu.ac.il.
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Abstract

Background: Research concerning negative attitudes toward the elderly among samples of North American respondents has uncovered two distinct yet comparable three-factor structures: (1) avoidance, antilocution and separation; and (2) discrimination, stereotypes and affective attitudes. In addition, previous research has demonstrated that men and younger people have more negative attitudes toward the elderly than do women and older people. The aim of this study is to examine the extent to which these findings can be generalized to individuals from a different culture.

Method: The Fraboni Scale of Ageism (FSA) was administered to 491 Israeli participants aged 20–50 years.

Results: Exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation uncovered a three-factor structure, similar to previous investigations. In contrast to the literature, however, no simple group (gender, age) differences were found for ageism. However, discriminant function analysis revealed a more complex relationship between age, gender and ageism. Older males, in contrast to older females, demonstrated a tendency to perceptions of the elderly that associated avoidance of the elderly with negative stereotypes whereas older females, in contrast to younger females, held perceptions that associated avoidance of the elderly with a negative perception of the elderly person's contribution to society.

Conclusions: Despite cultural differences between Israel and North America, the similarity of findings provides support for the generalizabilty of the structure of attitudes toward the elderly as measured by the FSA to various cultures. In addition, the combined effect of age and gender on differential forms of ageism is complex and should be examined in future research.

Keywords

stereotypeselderlyageismdiscriminationcultureattitudes
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 20 , Issue 5 , October 2008 , pp. 1046 - 1058
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2008

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