Pre-pandemic Ageism Toward Older Adults Predicts Behavioral Intentions During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci
; 77(4): e11-e15, 2022 04 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1003564
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, older adults have been disproportionately affected by high rates of health complications and mortality. Reactions toward older adults included a mix of prosocial behaviors and ageist responses, consistent with the history of positive and negative views and treatment of older adults in the United States.METHODS:
In a two-part study (n = 113, Mage = 18.49, SD = 0.50; range 18-19), we examined whether pre-pandemic ageism among undergraduates predicts prosocial behavioral intentions toward older adults both specific to COVID-19 and in general.RESULTS:
Pre-pandemic ageism toward older adults predicted less intentions to help older adults generally and specific to COVID-19. Whereas viewing older adults as incompetent predicted greater intentions to help specific to COVID-19.DISCUSSION:
These results reflect the complexity of predicting helping behaviors and suggest that even supportive behaviors toward older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic may be rooted in negative ageist stereotypes. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Ageism
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Aged
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci
Journal subject:
Social Sciences
/
Geriatrics
/
Psychology
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Geronb
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