A broad definition of Ageism
Ageism is defined as negative and 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’ or ‘elderly’.
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),
3) and behavioral components (discrimination), in other words, how we on the
basis of chronological age or age categorization mistakenly; 1) think of, 2) feel for, 3) and act on
the aging human being.
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
on institutional and cultural level (macro) level). As a consequence the definition contains the following key
dimensions.
The three classic components (cognitive, affective,
and behavioral)
1.
The positive / negative
aspect (positive and negative ageism)
2.
The conscious /unconscious
aspect (implicit and explicit ageism
3.
The typological
division of levels (ageism on micro- meso- and macro-level
[1] By Iversen, Thomas Nicolaj; Larsen,
Lars; Solem, Per Erik, Nordic Psychology, Vol 61(3), Nov
2009, 4-22
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