Political implications of the 'new ageism'

Gray Power: Agenda For Future Research

Gray Power came into prominence in the 1970s and has received considerable attention among social gerontologists. This paper reviews studies on gray power, political consciousness among the elderly and advocacy by organizations on behalf of older people, and it considers their implications for further research. Constructing the agenda for future research on gray power requires recognizing the diversity of older people and the life-course context through which individuals shape their concepts of old age and its meaning. Studies on political power need to be longitudinal as well as cross-sectional. Furthermore, studies on the political power of older people should consider how the young and middle-aged perceive their power relative to issues of common concern. Finally the studies of age advocacy groups should be linked with those of other advocacy organizations involved in social change (e.g. the disabled). The paper concludes that research on gray power should be fostered along inter-disciplinary lines of inquiry.

The Fraboni Scale of Ageism (FSA): An Attempt at a More Precise Measure of Ageism

“The Fraboni Scale of Ageism” (FSA), de même que les rapports de son facteur du concept psychologique, de sa crédibilité de consistance interne, et de sa relation avec “The Acceptance of Others Scale”, “The Facts on Aging Quiz”, et “The Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale” (N = 231) sont présentés dans cette étude. Le concept psychologique du FSA est tiré de la définition d'âgéisme chez Butler (1978), et il veut mesurer la composante affective des attitudes, afin de compléter l'aspect cognitif mesuré par les autres instruments. Le FSA avait trouvé une validité suffisante du concept psychologique et une crédibilité interne élevée. Les rapports avec les autres concepts psychologiques mesurés ont maintenu le caractère unique du FSA et ont révélé une influence réduite de l'utilité sociale. On a remarqué que le sexe des individus expliquait quelques divergences dans les scores du FSA.