Title: Perception of the Elderly in Modern Society
Headings: Perception of the Elderly in Modern Society
Perception of the Elderly in Modern Society
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Content: older people are often stereotyped as being unhealthy or always sick, decreased psychological functioning, unappealing, sexless, negative personality traits, miserable, lonesome and excluded from society. Stereotypes may be as a result of an individual’s negative personal experience, myths shared throughout the ages, and a general lack of current information. Older adults are labeled with negative statements such as; wrinkled, cranky, crotchety, inattentive, forgetful, fragile, feeble, stuck in the past, past their prime, or a burden on society. There are a lot of factors that may be responsible for the modern day perception of the elderly. An individual’s age, gender, level of knowledge, interaction with old adults and how frequent, cultural influences, modernization and the media are all factors that may influence how the elderly is perceived by members of society. Additionally, there are a lot of misconceptions about older adults since most people are not knowledgeable about aging. These misconceptions include: most older adults cannot live independently, chronologic age determines oldness, most elderly persons have diminished intellectual capacity or are senile, all older people are content and serene, all older persons are resistant to change and older adults cannot be productive or active. The functionalist theory looked at how the different parts of society work together in order for it to function smoothly.