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Abstract
Recent attention has focused upon the manner in which the elderly are portrayed in newspapers, television, magazines, advertisements, cartoons, popular music, and books. Numerous investigators have identified prejudicial and negative attitudes directed toward older people in these media. This investigation analyzed the content of five basal reading series published in the 1960s and 1980s by the same companies to see if the manner in which the elderly are portrayed has changed. The analysis focused on demographic data, literary depictions, personal characteristics, and general representations of characters who appeared to be 65 years old or older. The results indicated that, although the elderly are underrepresented in the books in comparison to their actual proportion in the population, they are generally portrayed in the reading series of both the 1960s and 1980s as competent, helpful, positive members of society.
