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

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.

In a two-part study (n = 113, Mage = 18.49, SD = 0.50; range 18-19), we examined whether pre-pandemic ageism among undergraduates predicts prosocial behavioral intentions toward older adults both specific to COVID-19 and in general.

Pre-pandemic ageism toward older adults predicted less intentions to help older adults generally and specific to COVID-19. Whereas viewing older adults as incompetent predicted greater intentions to help specific to COVID-19.

These results reflect the complexity of predicting helping behaviors and suggest that even supportive behaviors toward older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic may be rooted in negative ageist stereotypes. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.