Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 8, 2026
06:58
Highlighting and Reducing the Impact of Negative Aging Stereotypes During Older Adults' Cognitive Testing
Published on: January 24, 2020
"Attitudes" toward the elderly: a comparison of measures
Experimental Aging Research
|February 1, 1976
Summary
Researchers found that common questionnaires measuring attitudes toward older adults are not equivalent. This lack of consistency may explain varied findings in studies on aging attitudes.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Attitudes toward the elderly are crucial in social gerontology.
- Existing research often uses single instruments to measure these attitudes, leading to potential inconsistencies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the equivalence of five commonly used questionnaires assessing college students' attitudes toward old people.
- To identify potential sources of variability in research findings on aging attitudes.
Main Methods:
- College students completed five distinct questionnaires designed to measure attitudes toward the elderly.
- Intercorrelations between the different measures were statistically analyzed.
Main Results:
- The intercorrelations among the five attitude measures were low.
- No two measures accounted for more than 24% of the shared variance.
- This indicates significant differences in what each questionnaire assesses.
Conclusions:
- The assessed questionnaires are not equivalent measures of attitudes toward the elderly.
- Relying on a single instrument may introduce inconsistencies into the literature on aging attitudes.
- Future research should consider using multiple measures or validated scales to improve reliability.
Related Concept Videos
02:16Surveys
Often, psychologists develop surveys as a means of gathering data. Surveys are lists of questions to be answered by research participants, and can be delivered as paper-and-pencil questionnaires, administered electronically, or conducted verbally. Generally, the survey itself can be completed in a short time, and the ease of administering a survey makes it easy to collect data from a large number of people.
01:54Attitudes
Attitude is our evaluation of a person, an idea, or an object. We have attitudes for many things ranging from products that we might pick up in the supermarket to people around the world to political policies. Typically, attitudes are favorable or unfavorable: positive or negative (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). And, they have three components: an affective component (feelings), a behavioral component (the effect of the attitude on behavior), and a cognitive component (belief and knowledge;...
02:55Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination
Humans are very diverse and although we share many similarities, we also have many differences. The social groups we belong to help form our identities (Tajfel, 1974). These differences may be difficult for some people to reconcile, which may lead to prejudice toward people who are different. Prejudice is a negative attitude and feeling toward an individual based solely on one’s membership in a particular social group (Allport, 1954; Brown, 2010). Prejudice is common against people who are...
02:16Stereotype Content Model
The Stereotype Content Model (SCM) was first proposed by Susan Fiske and her colleagues (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick & Xu, 2002; see also Fiske, 2012 and Fiske, 2017). The SCM specifies that when someone encounters a new group, they will stereotype them based on two metrics: warmth—or that group’s perceived intent, and how likely they are to provide help or inflict harm—and competence—or their ability to carry out that objective. Depending on the warmth-competence categorization, a person will feel...
01:29Documentation in Long-Term and Home Healthcare Setting
Documentation in long-term care facilities and home healthcare settings is crucial for ensuring continuous, coordinated, and comprehensive care for patients. Each setting has its specific documentation processes and tools:
Long-Term Care Facilities
Long-Term Care Facilities
01:29Measures of Intelligence
Psychologists measure intelligence by using standardized tests that produce a score known as the intelligence quotient or IQ. To understand IQ tests, it's important to recognize the key principles behind their construction: validity, reliability, and standardization.
Validity refers to how well a test measures what it claims to measure. An intelligence test should accurately assess intelligence rather than another characteristic, like anxiety. Criterion validity is one way to evaluate this; it...
Validity refers to how well a test measures what it claims to measure. An intelligence test should accurately assess intelligence rather than another characteristic, like anxiety. Criterion validity is one way to evaluate this; it...