Many stereotypes of aging are commonly associated with some form abnormality. Below is a list of some of the adjectives we found that were negatively paired with old and aging:
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What is interesting is that aging is seen as counter to the "normal" condition of society; in North America, we seem to centre around a culture of youth where ideals such beauty, health, and success are synonymous the young and not the aging.
Here are some of the common myths that we encountered that have been shown by research to not be true well:
In fact, one research study surveying university students that they view seniors as generally not contributive to society and rated the following as their primary stereotypic activities:
- Socializing - 65%
- Exercising - 59%
- Watching TV - 51%
- Sleeping - 41%
- Reading - 40%
- Working - 17%
(percentages given are the amount of survey participants that listed that activity as a primary activity seniors perform)
In the flip side, seniors surveyed listed the following 2 activities as the ones they spend most of their time doing; this shows a large disparity between what youth think about older people and what aging people think of themselves:
- Volunteering - 35%
- Working - 29%
Other research has supported this finding and shown that exaggerations and misconceptions are most prevalent in younger adults aged 16-22 and these biases lessen greatly and then remain fairly stable from age 33 onwards. The most interesting finding was that most older people do not see themselves are "old" and differentiate their own age group from the "elderly" regardless of their age!
Over the next several posts, we will attempt to address some of the stereotypes and myths discussed and provide information on research covering those topics. What are some of aging stereotypes have you encountered that you believe to be a myth?
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