Attitudes Toward Old People Scale[i]

         Many visitors to this blog site are very interested in ageism. The following scale for assessing attitudes toward old people was published in 1961; fifty years ago, The research article discusses relationships found between such attitudes and personality variables. Three samples of college undergraduates served as subjects… a scale containing items making unfavorable reference to old people and a scale containing matched favorably worded items was constructed. Only the sentences are included here but the original article includes a scoring procedure

         Unfavorable attitudes toward old people were associated with feelings of anomie, and with negative dispositions toward ethnic minorities as well as a variety of physically disabled groups. A (From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3GD44K.)

The Scale

1.   The elderly have the same faults as anybody else

2.   The elderlys’ accounts of their past experiences are interesting

3.   Most elderly keep a clean home

4.   Most elderly seem to be quite clean in their personal appearance.

5.   Most elderly would work as long as possible rather than be            dependent.

6.   People grow wiser with the coming of old age.

7.   Most elderly are very different from one another.

8.   Most elderly are cheerful, agreeable and good humored.

9.   Most elderly respect the privacy of others

10. Most elderly are very relaxing to be with.

11. A nice residential neighborhood has a number of elderly living in it.

12. Most elderly are as easy to understand as young people.

13. Most elderly can adjust when the situation demands it.

14. The elderly have too little power in business and politics.

15. Most elderly need no more love and reassurance than anybody else.

16. It would be better if most elderly lived in residential units that also                 housed younger people.

17. The elderly seldom complain about the behavior of younger people.

18. It is foolish to claim that wisdom comes with old age,

19. Most elderly bore others by talking about the good old days.

20. Most elderly send to much time prying into the affairs of others.

21. Most elderly let their homes become shabby and unattractive

22. If the elderly expect to be liked, the should eliminate their irritating       faults.

---

[i] Attitudes toward old people: The development of a scale and an examination of   correlates. Kogan, N. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, Vol 62(1),

            Jan 1961, 44-54. doi: 10.1037/h0048053