Ageism

The Pervasive Sources of Ageism

Posted by: Anti-Ageism Task Force Guest Expert Erdman Palmore, Ph.D.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008—Many people are learning to recognize that ageism, like racism and sexism, is a form of prejudice and discrimination against a category of people – in this case, old people. Yet few recognize the many sources of ageism in our culture.

Here are some of the main sources:

• Economic advantage. If older people can be eliminated from the competition by compulsory retirement and other employment discrimination, younger people will have more advantage in getting jobs and promotions.
• Jokes and birthday cards about old people. These jokes and cards may be amusing, but they are usually based on negative stereotypes about old people that have little or no basis in fact. This tends to reinforce these stereotypes.
• The machine analogy. This is the false belief that the human body is like a machine that inevitably “wears out” in old age. In fact, the human body is unlike a machine in that the body can usually repair itself, even in old age, unless there is some pathology preventing the repairs.
• Rationalization. This is the common tendency to justify discrimination with some kind of false stereotype, such as old people are slow and stupid.
• Scapegoating. This is like rationalization in that old people are falsely blamed for social and economic problems such as unemployment, high taxes, the federal budget deficit, and expensive health care.
• Selective perception. This is the tendency to “see what you expect to see.” In this case, people who are slow or impaired tend to be perceived as “old”, while people who are quick and active tend to be perceived as “young” even though they may be chronologically old.
• Stereotypes in the media. Many portrayals of old people in the media (TV, movies, commercials, magazines, and newspapers) tend to show them as decrepit, dependent, demented, weak, and useless. This tends to reinforce the stereotypes that all old people are this way.

The bottom line is, become aware of these sources of ageism and try to overcome them in order to reduce ageism in our culture.

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Dr. Erdman Palmore was born in Japan to missionary parents and was raised in Virginia. He received a B.A. degree from Duke University, M.A. from the University of Chicago, and Ph.D. from Columbia University, all in Sociology. He taught at Yale University and did research for the Social Security Administration prior to coming to Duke University in 1967. At Duke, he has been Coordinator for the Duke Longitudinal Studies and Principal Investigator of several research projects. He is now Professor Emeritus of Medical Sociology and Editor of the Aging Center newsletter. Dr. Palmore has written or edited 15 books, including The Encyclopedia of Ageism, the Normal Aging series, International Handbook on the Aged, Handbook on the Aged in the U.S., Facts on Aging Quiz, and Ageism. He has also written 20 chapters in other books and over 70 articles in professional journals. His books and papers have received several awards. He is a Fellow of the American Sociological Society, the Gerontological Society of America, and was President of the Southern Gerontological Society, which gave him an award for Distinguished Academic Gerontologist. His research and teaching interests include ageism, knowledge about aging, race relations, retirement, longevity, life satisfaction, health, and international gerontology. Back

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Related Links: Browse ILC Ageism Publications, Learn more about our Ageism in America Project

Keywords: ageism

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