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How images of old age vary with age: an exploratory study among the Portuguese population

Part of: Bespoke shallow archive Weizmann

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2008

Liliana Sousa ,
Margarida Cerqueira  and
Helena Galante
Liliana Sousa
Affiliation:
Department of Health Sciences, University of Aveiro, 3810–193 Aveiro, Portugal
Margarida Cerqueira
Affiliation:
Department of Health Sciences, University of Aveiro, 3810–193 Aveiro, Portugal
Helena Galante
Affiliation:
Department of Health Sciences, University of Aveiro, 3810–193 Aveiro, Portugal
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Extract

Agism was the term chosen by Butler to name the process of discrimination based on chronological age, which usually results in an image of the elderly as unproductive, sick, depressed and with cognitive impairment. This form of bias, like others that devaluate and stereotype groups of people, has a marked effect on social interaction, influencing social attitudes and perceptions in a covert manner. The use of negative images relating to old age and the aging process promotes negative attitudes relating to elderly people, affects the way they live and the way people of other ages prepare to face their old age.

Type
Psychological and social gerontology
Information
Reviews in Clinical Gerontology , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , February 2008 , pp. 77 - 90
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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