Knowledge: Attitudes about Aging and Aging Anxiety by By Linda J. Allan and James A. Johnson

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Knowledge

UNDERGRADUATE ATTITUDES TOWARD THE ELDERLY: THE ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE, CONTACT AND AGING ANXIETY. By Linda J. Allan and James A. Johnson

The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between attitudes about aging and aging anxiety. The focus of the study was to determine the role that aging anxiety plays a mediator between experiences. The experiences focused on were in the form of factual knowledge and contact with the elderly.
The participants were 113 undergraduates at a Canadian University. The ages ranged from 17 to 49 years in age. More than half of the participants however were under the age of 20.The participants were 81 women and 29 men. Most participants reported ethnicity as White (77.9%). Other ethnicities reported were Asian (9.7%), native (3.5%) and other (8.8%).
The participants consented to and completed a questionnaire packet which included the following:
1. A demographics questionnaire consisting of Age and Gender.
2. A questionnaire on their contact with older persons.
3. The Fraboni Scale on Ageism (FSA) developed by Fraboni, Saltstone, and Huges (1990). The scale serves to gauge levels of ageist attitudes with lower scores indicating more ageist attitudes.
4. The Anxiety about Aging Scale (AAS) Lasher & Faulkender (1993).The scale served to gauge levels of anxiety about aging, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety about aging.
5. The Palmore Facts on Aging Quiz 1 (FAQ1) developed by Harris et al., 1996). The quiz served to gauge the participant’s knowledge of aging. The multiple choice version was used to decrease measurement error.
The average score on the Palamore’s FAQ was 47.68%. According to Allen and Johnson that was an indicator of poor knowledge of aging. The research gives si...

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Rupp, D. E., Vodanovich, S. J., & Credé, M. (2005). The multidimensional nature of ageism: Construct validity and group differences. The Journal of Social Psychology, 145(3), 335–362. http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/SOCP.145.3.335-362.
Schwartz, L. K., & Simmons, J. P. (2001). Contact quality and attitudes toward the elderly. Educational Gerontology, 27, 127–137. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/ 03601270151075525.
Van Dussen, D. J., & Weaver, R. R. (2009). Undergraduate students’ perceptions and behaviors related to the aged and to aging processes. Educational Gerontology, 35, 340–355. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03601270802612255.
Sullivan K. E. (2008). Ageism and the contact hypothesis: The effects of work-related and non-work-related contact on age-related stereotypes (Masters thesis). The University of Texas at Arlington, ProQuest, UMI Dissertations Publishing, 20081460808.

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