"Old Oxen Cannot Plow": Stereotype Themes of Older Adults in Turkish Folklore

Although much research has established the nature of attitudes and stereotypes toward older adults, there are conflicting explanations for the root cause of ageism, including the sociocultural view and interpersonal views, that age bias against older adults is uniquely a product of modernity and occurs through social interactions, and the evolutionary view and intraindividual views, that age bias against older adults is rooted in our naturally occurring and individually held fear of death. We make initial investigations into resolving this conflict, by analyzing literature from a society predating the Industrial Revolution, the society of Ottoman Turks.

Using Grounded Theory, we analyzed 1,555 Turkish fairy tales of the most well-known older adult in Turkish folklore, Nasreddin Hoca, for stereotype themes of older adults. Using the same method, we then analyzed 22,000+ Turkish sayings and proverbs for the same themes.

Results indicated older adults to be viewed both positively and negatively. Positive stereotypes included wisdom, warmth, deserving of respect, and retirement. Negative stereotypes included incompetence, inadaptability, and frailty/nearing of death. Older females were viewed more negatively relative to older males.

Results indicated views of older adults to parallel those found in contemporary research. Results have implications for the design of interventions to reduce ageism and on the cross-cultural generalizability of age-based stereotypes.