From Jurassic to Classic and East to West, an Inconvenienced Youth: Explaining, Reducing, and Measuring Age Bias

Abstract

This dissertation elucidates causes, consequences, measurement, interventions, and cross-cultural patterns of age-based prejudice. Chapter 1 (North & Fiske, 2012) first reviews the literature on ageism, identifying an important missing piece: intergenerational tensions, and reasons for optimism and pessimism for a society that is rapidly aging. As part of filling the intergenerational ageism gap, Chapter 2 (North & Fiske, in press) introduces a novel, prescriptive measure of ageism, centering on three domains of intergenerational tension: active Succession of enviable resources, passive Consumption of shared resources, and avoidance of symbolic, youth-centric Identity resources. Using these same three domains, Chapter 3 (North & Fiske, 2013-a) describes six experiments that further establish that younger people most endorse these prescriptions, and that they most target the old. Chapter 4 then introduces a possible moderator--perceived intergenerational abundance of resources--and demonstrates how exaggerating or minimizing scarcity can enhance or mitigate the effects found in Chapter 3. Finally, Chapter 5 presents a meta-analysis on cross-cultural attitudes toward elders; contrary to conventional wisdom, existing studies find that Easterners (East and South Asia) as compared to Westerners (North America and Europe) appear more negative in their views toward elders. I conclude with a brief summary and suggestions for future research.