Ageing (Part 2)

Myths and stereotypes

Robert Butler (1975) coined the word "ageism" to refer to a "process of systematic stereotyping of, and discrimination against people because they are old, just as racism and sexism accomplish this with skin colour and gender". According to Butler, ageism involves a wide range of phenomena including stereotypes and myths, outright disdain and dislike or simply avoidance of contact.

Tranquillity myth:

A time of relative peace when people can relax and enjoy the fruits o their lifetime's labour.

Inevitability myth; this paints a more negative picture of old age:

· All older people are similar · Ageing involves various irreversible illnesses (mental or physical) · A fixed state of mind · Shrinking capacities · As aged person is ipso facto, rigid, unchangeable, sterile, and dependent (Saul, 1974).

Neugarten and Hagestad (1976): "Individuals develop a mental map of the lifecycle, they anticipate that certain events will occur at certain times, and they internalise a social clock that tells them whether they are on or off time".

Often a person's awareness of their own ageing comes from someone else's unexpected comment or action. E.g. a university lecturer first realised his ageing (at 55) when a young woman offered him a seat in a crowded tram (Vischer, 1966).

Ageing may be perceived by oneself differently from other people. Keller et al. (1989) reported that about ½ of their sample of North Americans over 70 years considered themselves to be "middle-aged".

"Chronological age" v/s "Social age"

From midlife onwards, a number of factors can act to separate a person's awareness of his age: chronological and social.

- Improved health and greater aspirations to health

- Prolonged youthfulness

- Longer survival of parents (who may require care from their 'middle-aged' children)

- Accelerating pace of social change which may leave middle-aged employees' skills redundant while they are still youthful.

"Social image" v/s "Self image"

A number of psychological processes add to the divergence of social image from self image with ageing: - Stereotyping - Self-stereotyping - Self-enhancement

These affect perceptions, beliefs and communication between older and younger people.

Stereotyping

This is the blanket assignment of a specific set of supposed features to all members of a social category (Billig, 1985). These features can be evaluated - positively - negatively - compassionately This leads to selective expectation, perception and memory for these supposed features and the filtering out of others, e.g. - faulty perceptions of individuals - inappropriate treatments

Self-stereotyping

Older people may have held negative stereotypes of the elderly when they were young. If they continue to hold them as they age themselves, they may become prey to self-stereotyping and a negative self-image (Oswald, 1991). They may:

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