Undergraduate Students' Perceptions and Behaviors Related to the Aged and to Aging Processes

Abstract

Aging education is relatively new to the university, and our understanding of the perspectives students bring to aging populations is correspondingly limited. This investigation surveys 546 students at a midsized, Midwestern university to explore students' views toward elders, toward serving elders, and toward the relevance of aging education for various other areas of study. Our results suggest generally favorable attitudes: older students and students with greater contact with aging populations were more positive than their counterparts; gender, GPA, and aging courses taken showed sporadic or no effects on various attitudes. These preliminary findings offer a baseline for future investigations. Our findings suggest that students who have more contact through friendship and volunteer experiences have more positive attitudes toward working with older adults. Additional research is needed to examine if type of gerontological instruction is associated with attitudes toward aging and aging education.

The authors thank the students of the senior research seauence at Youngstown Sate University: Tia Thompson, Andrew Wilson, Jennier Francis, Bradley Trumpower, Robert Huggins, and Sunday Moulton Wakefield. Their data collection and hard work on this project are appreciated. We especially thank Jill Little for going above and beyond the expectations of the project while working on her own research in the research sequence.

Notes

∗Note: This includes Hispanic (1.4%), Asian and Pacific Islander (1.0%), Native American (0.04%). Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

∗p < .05; ∗∗p < .01.

∗p < .05; ∗∗p < .01; ∗∗∗p < .001.