Intergenerational Service Learning within an Aging Course and Its Impact on Undergraduate Students’ Attitudes about Aging

[«Effects of intergenerationality (relationships, contacts and programmes) on reducing ageism: A systematic review (2013-2023)»]

Discrimination against people on the basis of age, ageism, is one of the most latent forms of discrimination in today's society. In this systematic review we analysed the impact of intergenerationality (relationships, contacts and programmes) on reducing ageism. Eighteen articles were selected following the PRISMA protocol, searching three major databases (Scopus, WoS and ERIC). The results of the studies highlight how intergenerational interventions reduce ageism by fostering understanding and contact between generations, with an emphasis on technology and youth programmes. Shared housing and the duration of interventions are also key factors. As a proposal, an approach to ageism from a socio-educational perspective is proposed that favours the creation of inclusive environments, creating synergies to break the stigma of chronological age.

An experimental investigation of a simulated online intergenerational friendship

Reducing ageism is a significant social issue. The current study involved a novel experimental examination of whether a one-time simulated online intergenerational friendship would reduce ageism. Undergraduate participants were randomly assigned to complete an interpersonal closeness exercise (the "fast friends" procedure, Aron et al., 1997; Lytle & Levy, 2015) with a confederate who used a script to answer the fast friends questions, during which they either did not reveal their age (control condition) or revealed being an older adult (age 65; experimental condition). Results indicate that experimental (vs. control) participants reported less ageism and more positive behavior (friendlier responses). These findings suggest that positive online intergenerational contact may help combat ageism. As intergenerational contact was limited before the COVID-19 pandemic and even more so during the pandemic, facilitating online intergenerational contact may be a particularly worthwhile ageism reduction strategy. Further implications of these findings and future directions are discussed.

Anti-Ageism Social Actions: Lights and Shadows

Ageism refers to the stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination towards others or oneself due to age, and it is the most prevalent type of social disadvantage, even more so than those due to gender and race, with negative effects worldwide. Ageism is an evidently real social problem that needs to be addressed and fought. Our study has two main objectives: firstly, to study to what extent programmes, projects or actions have been developed to combat ageism around the world; and secondly, to what extent they have been evaluated via the positive outcomes registered by the participants. Two different information sources were used: (a) a literature review of ageism programmes or interventions; and (b) an online questionnaire sent to international and national institutions surveying their policies or programmes against ageism. Our results show a relatively high number of actions combating ageism but a lack of a systematic evaluation of the outcomes of those actions. In conclusion, first, it is necessary to develop programmes and actions combating ageism, and the evaluation of these programmes is urgently needed in order to identify strategies that truly and effectively tackle ageism. There is a need to urge institutions to perform external evaluations of their anti-ageism social policies and to encourage scientists to conduct randomized and controlled studies.