This study investigates the effects of priming participants with either negative or positive images of older adults and the impressions they form of a neutral image of an older adult after subsequent priming. Participants were first primed with 25 positive, 25 negative, or no images of older adults, then they were asked to write a short story about "a day in the life of' a neutral woman and to complete several surveys including the Fraboni Scale of Ageism (FSA), Marlowe Crowne, and the NEO-FF inventory. The primary dependent variable was participants' short stories; which were analyzed for linguistic indicators of prejudice toward older adults. Additionally, the data were analyzed to unveil variables that predict ageism.
Although priming did not have a significant effect, participants without perceived social support of a grandparent or older adult scored relatively higher on the FSA. Ageism was also predicted by the terminology used in the narrative written to describe the older adult female in the image. Ageism, like other forms of prejudice, develops over a lifetime and cannot be expected to be elicited or eradicated in a few hours. The results of this study suggest perceived level of support from an older adult is more important to reducing ageism than exposure to positive images of older adults.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:honorstheses1990-2015-1889 |
| Date | 01 January 2009 |
| Creators | Collins, DeAnne R. |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | HIM 1990-2015 |
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