Millennials can turn tide of ageism
Our attitude to ageing is wrong, and millennials are well placed to change it, writes Lara Vlietstra.
Ageing is not a disease, yet Western society treats it as one, despite the rising number of older adults.
Older people make substantial contributions to society; however, they are often stereotyped as dependent, frail or a burden, and are discriminated against on the grounds of age.
It’s time for a change in our attitudes, preconceptions, assumptions and expectations. It’s time for millennials to start a counter-movement.
When and why did we get a bad attitude to ageing?
Over time, there has been a change from a ‘‘traditional’’ society, in which older adults were honoured and respected, to one that views ageing as negative and in which stereotyping older people has become primitive and automatic.
American psychology professor Todd Nelson has described low fertility during the Depression years of the 1930s and how the ongoing improvement in life expectancy marked the start of an ageing population. Western society was not prepared to deal with this, which led to an association between age and negative qualities that has persisted and even increased.
Meanwhile, Professor Mason Durie and Dr William Edwards have described how Ma¯ ori society has a more positive attitude. Although the Ma¯ ori population is youthful compared to the overall New Zealand population, attitudes to positive ageing are not only concerned with older Ma¯ ori. Edwards says it is about Ma¯ ori of all ages adopting a proactive ageing process that enables resilience to life’s challenges, and allows all Ma¯ ori to equitably share the benefits of society.
If we’re lucky, we all get older
Ageism has been called the ultimate prejudice, and anyone may eventually become a target.
Ageism is relatively new, and was coined less than 50 years ago. Nevertheless, US psychology writer Melissa Ditmann has described how negative attitudes towards ageing are already deeply rooted and widespread in modern societies, from as young as preschool. And a survey by gerontologist Erdman Palmore has shown that more than 75 per cent of over-60s had experienced one or more incidents of ageism.
Ageing isn’t as bad as we think
But this ‘‘getting old is bad’’ message is not true. At least 95 per cent of older adults do not fit the stereotypes of being helpless and sick. Research by writer Anne Tergesen indicates that emotional wellbeing improves until the 70s, with older adults reporting better marriages and friendships, less conflict and closer social ties. They had more energy, were more motivated and managed their economic lives better than younger people.
A self-fulfilling prophecy?
Assumptions and expectations around ageing can also destroy one’s own future.
Compared with positive attitudes, negative attitudes towards ageing have an almost three times stronger effect on the physical and mental performance of older individuals, and influence:
■ how older adults see themselves and others
■ their cognitive and physical performances
■ their ability to recover from disease
■ their health-seeking behaviours
■ how they are treated by others and the society.
Negative stereotypes can kill
Yale professor Becca Levy’s longitudinal study of 660 people aged over 50 found that those with positive self-perceptions of ageing lived 7.5 years longer than those with negative selfperceptions. Meanwhile, positive stereotyping of ageing improves performances such as memory, writing skills and walking ability.
A kauma¯ tuatanga study commissioned by Te Pou Matakana (now the Wha¯ nau Ora Commissioning Agency) stated that older Ma¯ ori listed thinking positively as one of the things that contributed to wellbeing. Ma¯ ori positive ageing begins early in life, and is perceived as mutually beneficial for individuals as well as Ma¯ ori society.
When is the best time to start thinking about healthy and positive ageing?
The body reaches its muscle and bone mass peak around the age of 30, so this marks a great time to start thinking about healthy ageing.
Millennials have great potential for rejecting ageism and promoting positive attitudes. They grew up in an increasingly online and socially networked world.
As the most ethnically diverse generation, millennials tend to be confident, tolerant of difference and open-minded. More importantly, they are more optimistic about their future than other generations.
As only 25 per cent of the diversity in human longevity is explained by genetic factors, and the other 75 per cent is largely environmental, it is time that millennials took control of their own future. At 30, people should begin to think about how to age positively and healthily. We should all work towards a Ma¯ ori view of ageing well.
Millennials have all the right characteristics to turn the tide on ageism. Let’s all start now by fully embracing older people – after all, if we’re lucky, one day we’ll get to be old and will benefit from it too.