Ageism or Healthism?

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Abstract
Despite what appears to be ageist behavior in our society, there is little research evidence indicating that the elderly are perceived negatively. The reason for this discrepancy may be that it is not age itself but characteristics that covary with age (such as poor health) that are seen negatively. In a completely between-subjects design, Target Age (young, old) x Target Health Status (poor, average, excellent) x Respondent Sex, 120 undergraduates rated a target on Rosencranz and McNevin's (1969) three-dimensional Aging Semantic Differential. MANOVA and univariate ANOVA results revealed a moderate target age effect on only the Instrumental-Ineffective dimension, but a strong target health status effect on all dimensions. Only targets (old and young) in poor health were seen negatively. An additional 40 undergraduates rated young or old targets whose health status was unspecified. Ratings of these targets did not differ from ratings of those whose health status had been specified as average. Our results are compatible with the notion that people hold multiple substereotypes of the elderly, and suggest that at least some behavior that appears to be ageist may be more accurately seen as "healthist."

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