Reducing Ageism and Ableism With Brief Videos Providing Education About Aging and Disabilities and Exposure to Positive Intergenerational Contact.

Background And Objectives: Older adults living with a disability (LWD) face both ageism and ableism, but there are few interventions to address this significant and growing social problem.

Research Design And Methods: Drawing on the Positive Education about Aging and Contact Experiences model, 3 online studies involved participants randomly assigned to watch 4 brief online videos providing education about aging and disability and exposure to positive contact between younger adults and older adults/older adults LWD (experimental condition) or videos about interior design (control condition). Studies 1 (community sample) and 2 (university sample) included an immediate posttest whereas Study 3 (2 university samples) additionally included a pretest and delayed posttest.

Reducing ageism: comparing the efficacy of videos, written information, and infographics as intervention mediums.

Ageism (prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping directed toward individuals based on age) is pervasive in the U.S. and around the world.

Do media portrayals of super-agers reduce or increase ageism toward older adults?

Super-agers are older adults with exemplary cognitive and/or physical abilities. However, the impact of media portrayals of super-agers is unknown. This study examined whether exposure to mass media stories about "moderate" super-agers (exemplary cognitive and physical skill levels) versus "extreme" super-agers (most extreme cognitive and physical skill levels) impacts young adults' ageism.

Erratum: Gait monitoring for older adults during guided walking: An integrated assistive robot and wearable sensor approach - ERRATUM.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1017/wtc.2022.

Resilience and grit predict fewer academic and career concerns among first-year undergraduate students during COVID-19.

Since March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly disrupted higher education in the United States (U.S.).

Gait monitoring for older adults during guided walking: An integrated assistive robot and wearable sensor approach.

An active lifestyle can mitigate physical decline and cognitive impairment in older adults. Regular walking exercises for older individuals result in enhanced balance and reduced risk of falling. In this article, we present a study on gait monitoring for older adults during walking using an integrated system encompassing an assistive robot and wearable sensors.

Reducing ageism toward older adults and highlighting older adults as contributors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated ageism (stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination) toward older adults in the United States, highlighting the belief that older adults are a burden. Prior to the pandemic, a growing body of research sought to reduce ageism using the PEACE (Positive Education about Aging and Contact Experiences) model. Extending that research, participants were randomly assigned to watch three videos (less than 10 min total) that challenged stereotypes about aging and older adults, depicted positive intergenerational contact, and highlighted older adults as contributors to society (experimental condition) or three videos on wallpaper (control condition).

An Examination of Intergenerational Contact Experiences Using 10,338 Journal Entries From 2,414 Young Adults.

Background And Objectives: With continued negative depictions of older adults and limitations on positive intergenerational contact, ageism is a significant social issue. Using a rich data set of journal entries, we examined sentiments, emotions, and optimal intergenerational contact conditions among volunteers in an intergenerational program.

Research Design And Methods: 10,338 journal entries were analyzed from 2,414 young adult volunteers from GlamourGals Foundation, Inc.

Pre-pandemic Ageism Toward Older Adults Predicts Behavioral Intentions During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objectives: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, older adults have been disproportionately affected by high rates of health complications and mortality. Reactions toward older adults included a mix of prosocial behaviors and ageist responses, consistent with the history of positive and negative views and treatment of older adults in the United States.

Methods: In a two-part study (n = 113, Mage = 18.

Prioritizing Health Care and Employment Resources During COVID-19: Roles of Benevolent and Hostile Ageism.

Background And Objectives: Benevolent and hostile ageism are subtypes of ageism that characterize older adults as incompetent. With benevolent ageism, older adults are also viewed as warm. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has strained resources and prompted debates about priority for older adults versus other groups.

Reducing Ageism With Brief Videos About Aging Education, Ageism, and Intergenerational Contact.

Background And Objectives: With an increasing older population, ageism continues to be a significant social issue. Interventions to reduce ageism and improve intergenerational contact are needed.

Research Design And Methods: Building on the Positive Education about Aging and Contact Experiences (PEACE) model, undergraduates in an online experiment were randomly assigned to watch videos that provided education about aging, ageism, and positive intergenerational contact (experimental condition) or education about wallpaper (control condition).

COVID-19 and ageism: How positive and negative responses impact older adults and society.

The disproportionately high rates of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) health complications and mortality among older adults prompted supportive public responses, such as special senior early shopping hours and penpal programs. Simultaneously, some older adults faced neglect and blatant displays of ageism (e.g.

Instapals: Reducing ageism by facilitating intergenerational contact and providing aging education.

Utilizing the PEACE (Positive Education about Aging and Contact Experiences) model as a theoretical foundation, Instapals was a novel ageism reduction intervention with undergraduate students in a non-gerontology course that 1) provided aging education and 2) facilitated positive 1-to-1 intergenerational relationships with older adults (individuals 65+) through daily exchanges on Instagram for 30 days and two in-person meetings. Paired t-tests demonstrate a significant decrease in aging anxiety, psychological concerns about aging, and negative stereotyping of older adults. Results from coded open-ended responses suggest an overall positive experience with Instapals and more positive attitudes toward aging and older adults across a semester.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Differences in Aging Perceptions and Concerns Among Older Adults.

Background And Objectives: Ageism (negative attitudes and behavior toward older adults) is a serious social issue and is of growing concern as the population of older adults continues to increase. Research demonstrates that negative aging perceptions and aging concerns are associated with poor health and well-being among older adults; yet, few studies have examined sexual orientation or gender differences in aging perceptions and concerns among older adults.

Research Design And Methods: The current online study examined aging perceptions and concerns among a national community sample of 821 (female = 464) participants (76 lesbian, 159 gay, 88 bisexual, 498 heterosexual participants) ranging from 45 to 80 years of age ( = 55.

Culturally Relevant Meanings of the Protestant Work Ethic and Attitudes towards Poor Persons.

The Protestant work ethic (PWE), or the belief that hard work leads to success, is a popular belief across cultures. Much work indicates that PWE contributes to negative evaluations of disadvantaged groups presumably through the notion that they deserve their disadvantage for not working hard enough ("PWE-Justifier"). But there is another dimension of PWE that expresses the belief that everyone could succeed through hard work ("PWE-Equalizer").

Reducing Ageism: Education About Aging and Extended Contact With Older Adults.

Background And Objectives: Ageism is of increasing concern due to the growing older population worldwide and youth-centered focus of many societies.

Research Design And Methods: The current investigation tested the PEACE (Positive Education about Aging and Contact Experiences) model for the first time. Two online experimental studies examined 2 key factors for reducing ageism: education about aging (providing accurate information about aging) and extended contact (knowledge of positive intergenerational contact) as well as their potential combined effect (education plus extended contact).

Essentialist beliefs: Understanding contact with and attitudes towards lesbian and gay individuals.

Sexual prejudice remains a widespread problem worldwide. Past research demonstrates that cross-orientation contact (contact between heterosexuals and lesbian/gay individuals) reduces sexual prejudice among heterosexuals, especially when contact is high quality. This study extends the literature on the relationship between cross-orientation contact and sexual prejudice and the mediation of this relationship by intergroup anxiety by examining the role of a key ideology - essentialist beliefs about homosexuality (immutability, universality, and discreteness beliefs).