Social acceptance of age discrimination

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: Ageism is the systematic stereotyping and discrimination against individuals based on their age. This form of discrimination is widespread and is infused in all aspects of older adults' lives; however, most people perceive it as less serious than other forms of discrimination including race or gender. Currently, there are no studies in the literature indicating ageism is more socially acceptable than racism. This study hypothesized that individuals would endorse explicit ageist beliefs in both low and high social pressure situations while explicit racist beliefs would drop significantly in the high social pressure condition.

Findings and Conclusions: Findings suggest there is no difference between the level of ageism and racism endorsement regardless of the level of experienced social pressure.