Luszcz M A, Fitzgerald K M
J Gerontol. 1986 Mar;41(2):234-40. doi: 10.1093/geronj/41.2.234.
Thirty adolescent, middle-aged, and elderly people participated in a study exploring (a) their self-, inter- and intra-cohort perceptions; (b) ascribed social distance; (c) knowledge of aging; and (d) the relationships among these phenomena. Data were gathered using a Social Distance Scale, Goals of Life Index, Facts on Aging Quiz, and Aging Semantic Differentials. In general, elderly adults were the most devalued and middle-aged adults the most favored cohort. Unfavorable attitudes toward elderly people were predicted more by age-related social distance and societally induced biases than differential investments in psychosocial life tasks. Appraising one's member cohort more favorably than those outside it was paralleled by a tendency to view the self more favorably than peers. The discrepancy between societal and older individuals' views of aging suggests that the social breakdown syndrome itself may be breaking down: Older adults are moving away from a characterization of themselves as ineffective and dependent. A similar view might be engendered in younger cohorts if social distance were reduced and more attention paid to assertions of elderly adults rather than to societally induced stereotypes.
30名青少年、中年人和老年人参与了一项研究，该研究探讨了：（a）他们对自身群体、不同群体和同群体的认知；（b）归因的社会距离；（c）对衰老的认知；以及（d）这些现象之间的关系。使用社会距离量表、生活目标指数、衰老知识测验和衰老语义差异量表收集数据。总体而言，老年人是最受贬低的群体，中年人是最受青睐的群体。与心理社会生活任务中的差异投入相比，与年龄相关的社会距离和社会诱导的偏见更能预测对老年人的负面态度。与对群体外成员的评价相比，对自身群体成员的评价更为积极，这与对自己的评价比对同龄人更为积极的倾向是一致的。社会与老年人对衰老看法之间的差异表明，社会崩溃综合征本身可能正在瓦解：老年人不再将自己描述为无能和依赖的形象。如果减少社会距离，更多地关注老年人的主张而不是社会诱导的刻板印象，年轻群体可能也会产生类似的看法。
