Learning more about Ageism

A Comprehensive Definition of Ageism[i]

         This article is an extremely useful one as it encourages us to look carefully at what we mean by the term ageism. It is based on a review of ageist research projects and provides us with deeper meaning.  I am going to reproduce and discuss a couple of paragraphs on page 15.  The section is entitled “A comprehensive definition of Ageism. Then I will add some comments of my own.

“Our comprehensive definition of Ageism is as follows:

 

         “Ageism is defined as negative or positive stereotypes, prejudice, and/or discrimination against (or advantage of) elderly people on the basis of their chronological age or on the basis of a perception of them as being ‘old’.  Ageism can be implicit or explicit and can be expressed on a micro- meso- or macro-level.”

         The concept includes the classic social psychological components in the form of; 1) cognitive (stereotypes), 2) affective (prejudice) and 3) behavioral components (discrimination);  in other words, how we on the basis chronological age or age categorization mistakenly: 1) think about, 2) feel about, 3) and act toward the aging human. Furthermore, ageism can operate both consciously (explicitly) and unconsciously (implicitly); and it can manifest itself on three different levels:  individual (micro-level), in social networks (meso-level), and institutional  and cultural level (macro-level).

As a consequence the definition contains the following key dimensions:

      The three classic components (the cognitive, affective and       behavioral)

      The positive/negative aspect (positive and negative ageism)

      The conscious/unconscious aspect (implicit and explicit       ageism)

      The typological division of levels (ageism on micro-, meso-  and       macro level.

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[i]  Iversen,  T.N, (2009). A Conceptual Analysis of Ageism, Nordic Psychology Vol             61,(3) 4-22   DOI 10.1027/1901-2276.61.3.4