3: Social Aspects of Aging

Question 1

context vs compositional effects

Answer 1

Compositional: influence of individual’s personal characteristics on their health
- High demand from seniors for green space =
it will be built

Contextual: influence of social context
- Seniors move to the area with more green
spaces because its healthier for them
- Green space already built attracts seniors

Question 2

How to turn aging population into opportunity, not crisis

Answer 2

1. Understand trends
   
   • aging population = dependency
2. Society responds with policies
   
   • Make older people productive (healthy aging, change labor regulations) to combat dependency

Question 3

Policy

Answer 3

= set of ideas or a plan of what to do in particular situations that has been agreed to officially by a group of people

Only works if: targeted, feasible, evidence-based

Question 4

social issues with aging

Answer 4

Social status
- Modernization theory: social status declines
as people age due to lack of contribution
- Inevitable part of aging or policies (
mandatory retirement @65)

Intergenerational issue
- Increasing life expectancy =
intergenerational competition
- job market
- Changes in family values and caregiving
- responsibilities

Age Relation
- Age organizes society: power to identity, limits access to resources
- Older people themselves believe age is a limitation

Intersectionality
- Age intersects with other social factors contributing to ‘social location’
- Older women of color combines harms of marginalization

Question 5

ageism

Answer 5

systematic stereotyping & discrimination against people because of their age

• see older people as ‘others’ = root cause of all __isms

Question 6

ageism is reported by more than __% of seniors

Answer 6

50%

Question 7

internalized ageism

Answer 7

• assumed burden becomes real burden
• accepting negative views of aging as a part of their own self-concept
• continually treated as inferior, may adopt learned helplessness / or non-contributor

Question 8

consequences of ageism

Answer 8

• Reinforces intergenerational conflict
• Segregates society
• Deprives society of contribution of elders
• Impacts social, mental, physical health of elders
• Delays achieving goal of health aging

Question 9

government organizations promote what belief

Answer 9

that the provision of social services to elderly is at the expense of younger generations
- Concept used to legitimate cuts to services for elderly

Question 10

apocalyptic demography & how its used to government advantage

Answer 10

treating increased life expectancy solely as a burden to society with terrible long term effects
- conceals political and economic motivations for policy changes and cutbacks
- Inhibits collective resistance - public accepts it and resigns to the ‘inevitable’

Question 11

Institutionalized ageism

Answer 11

structure society based on an assumption that everyone is young - failing to respond appropriately to the needs of elderly

• Embedded into policies, programs, social institutions .etc
• Ex. Retirement policies requiring one to stop or limit paid work at a certain age

Question 12

psychological perspective

Answer 12

ageism is rooted in a cross-cultural fear of death, as older people are a reminder of our mortality

Question 13

Socialization psychological perspective

Answer 13

Negative age stereotypes are learned through socialization (especially in childhood - TV, anti-aging industry .etc)

Question 14

western vs non-western values

Answer 14

North American culture tends to idealize youth/independence = negative aging views

Assumed non-Western cultures are less ageist, relying on familial values and family-based care
- Traditional Chinese <3 filial piety (caring for parents, honoring ancestors)
- Aboriginal - respect for elders not bc of age, but the characteristics they possess (spiritual leadership)

Question 15

T or F caring for and caring about are the same thing

Answer 15

false

Question 16

Positive ageism

Answer 16

overemphasis on positive images of aging, inadvertently devaluing and stigmatizing older people who can not meet this ideal

Question 17

how are Western and Eastern cultural ideals about responsibilities shifting

Answer 17

• Less related to influence of individual cultures …more related to how families adapt to changes of individuals capacity to meet needs of elderly family members
• Filial norms are not weakened by immigrating to America: redefined by adult children with limited ability to fulfill traditional norms (employment, income .etc)

Question 18

eliminating ageism

Answer 18

• changing social and cultural norms (attitudes and beliefs) through increased positive ideals and imaging of aging (more diverse representation)
• Need to change beliefs in children through early socialization promoting positive interaction = combats anxiety of aging and segregation between generations)

Question 19

modernization theory perspective (pros and cons)

Answer 19

value of senior = if they can contribute to appropriate functioning of society

Cons:
- idealizes elderly situations in the past and less industrialized societies
- Cultural values of age enhancing social status persisted regardless of modernization in some societies
- Provides little solutions for changing ageism in industrialized societies

PROS: examines how nature of society and social change shape our beliefs about and behaviors towards elderly

Question 20

effects of moving through industrial era into post-industrial

Answer 20

-> loosening of traditional social and cultural norms & expanding choices available for individuals across life course (family, jobs, leisure)
-> Greater freedom for aging-related cultural and biological constraints

Positive implications (+)
- age can be released from negative status and constructed in self-conscious ways
- Technology has increased ability of seniors and life-course possibilities

Cons (-)
- society still offers few meaningful social role opportunities
- social norms are slow to change, maintains structural lag

Question 21

critical theoretical perspective

Answer 21

ageism isn’t the direct result of attitudes -> rooted in/generated by social structures

• Particularly within political and economic systems (capitalism)
• Ex. policies making retirement at 65 = help remove expensive part of workforce (more experienced, cumulative pay raises over time)

Question 22

Critical gerontological perspective

Answer 22

Ageism doesnt create age-based stratification, but begins with social stratification
- more powerful groups influence existing systems to be reinforced to their own advantages to maintain dominant position
- Excludes and oppresses others (women, elderly, workers, ethnic minorities)

Question 23

sociological perspective

Answer 23

Ageism is not just an individual characteristic, but has broader origins in the way society is constructed
- age relations, age stratification theory

Concerns about ageism in Canada
- Patterned social exclusion: ageism generate discriminatory behavior → is institutionalized within policies that limit opportunities and access to resources
- seniors will internalize ageist beliefs → (-) implications for their well-being & QOL
- Ageism used as justification for neoliberal political and economic interests
- Ageism reinforces an age-segregated society and intergenerational conflict

Question 24

Age relations

Answer 24

how societies organize on the basis of age
- age as an organizing principle
- groups gain identities/power in relation to each other (age = no power)
- age intersectionality

Question 25

Age stratification theory

Answer 25

Age cohorts have different access to societal resources

Question 26

Intergenerational relations

Answer 26

focus on interactions/exchanges between age groups & attitudes towards each other (families or larger scale)

Question 27

how does apocalyptic demography promote intergenerational inequity

Answer 27

younger groups feel burdened by growing proportion of elderly (develop sense of collective identity)

Question 28

Institutional vs Spatial vs Cultural segregation

Answer 28

Institutional segregation: entry to social institutions is normatively restricted to certain age groups (school, work)

Spatial segregation: age groups funneled into different physical spaces reduce likelihood of interactions (retirement communities)

Cultural segregation: age groups tend to live within distinct cultural domains

Question 29

what promotes intergenerational cohesion

Answer 29

Bonding across familial generations
- When children are socialized within their families to respect older members, it spreads to the view of society