A Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation of the Impact of an Intergenerational Program on Children’s Biases Toward Older Adults

ABSTRACT

Ageism refers to the negative bias that targets people of a particular age demographic, typically those in late adulthood. Intergenerational (IG) programs, designed to offset the development of ageism in children, can be beneficial and may improve children’s views of aging. In the current study, an IG program is evaluated using both quantitative and qualitative measures. Results indicated that when measured implicitly, but not explicitly, children reveal negative biases against older adults. However, with the exception of a self-assessment of their knowledge of and contact with older family members, there were no significant differences before and after the IG program.

KEYWORDS:

• Intergenerational programs
• assessments of ageism

Notes

1. These data include information for African American and white women and men; data for Hispanics and other ethnicities were not available for the early twentieth century.