Table Of ContentInternational Perspectives on Aging 19
Series Editors: Jason L. Powell, Sheying Chen
Liat Ayalon · Clemens Tesch-Römer
Editors
Contemporary
Perspectives on
Ageism
International Perspectives on Aging
Volume 19
Series editors
Jason L. Powell
University of Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, UK
Sheying Chen
Pace University, New York, New York, USA
The study of aging is continuing to increase rapidly across multiple disciplines. This
wide-ranging series on International Perspectives on Aging provides readers with
much-needed comprehensive texts and critical perspectives on the latest research,
policy, and practical developments. Both aging and globalization have become a
reality of our times, yet a systematic effort of a global magnitude to address aging
is yet to be seen. The series bridges the gaps in the literature and provides cutting-
edge debate on new and traditional areas of comparative aging, all from an
international perspective. More specifically, this book series on International
Perspectives on Aging puts the spotlight on international and comparative studies of
aging.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8818
Liat Ayalon • Clemens Tesch-Römer
Editors
Contemporary Perspectives
on Ageism
Editors
Liat Ayalon Clemens Tesch-Römer
Louis and Gabi Weisfeld German Centre of Gerontology
School of Social Work Berlin, Germany
Bar Ilan University
Ramat Gan, Israel
Funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
of the European Union
This publication is based upon work from COST Action IS1402, supported by COST
(European Cooperation in Science and Technology).
COST is a funding agency for research and innovation networks. Our Actions help connect
research initiatives across Europe and enable scientists to grow their ideas by sharing them
with their peers. This boosts their research, career and innovation. www.cost.eu
ISSN 2197-5841 ISSN 2197-585X (electronic)
International Perspectives on Aging
ISBN 978-3-319-73819-2 ISBN 978-3-319-73820-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73820-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018935295
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Acknowledgements
Ageism is a social construct of old age that portrays ageing and older people in a
stereotypical, often negative, way. We are convinced that ageism is harmful both to
the individuals affected and to society as a whole. Hence, this book provides a thor-
ough overview of insights into the origins of ageism and descriptions of the mani-
festations and consequences of ageism in different domains and also presents
interventions which might curtail and reduce ageism.
This book is the collaborative result of a COST Action entitled “Ageism: A
Multinational, Interdisciplinary Perspective” (IS1402). COST is an EU-funded pro-
gramme that enables researchers like us to set up interdisciplinary research net-
works in Europe and beyond. We were lucky enough to secure funding for a 4-year
research network on the topic of ageism. Among the stated goals of our network was
the creation of a common language to allow researchers from various countries,
disciplines and sectors to work together in the field of ageism. We aimed for the
enhancement of knowledge, the integration of different disciplines and the develop-
ment of a new generation of researchers in the field of ageism.
The researchers in our network come from 35 countries and represent a highly
diverse group of established and early-stage researchers as well as policymakers. As
a result, this book is a multidisciplinary, cross-national product of researchers in the
fields of psychology, sociology, social work, health, nursing, law, policy, economy,
demography, pharmacy, occupational therapy, communication studies, gender stud-
ies and labour studies – all working on the topic of ageism.
We are grateful that COST has given us the opportunity to collaborate with
excellent colleagues from all over the world. We have learned a lot in this process,
and we hope readers will find this book both useful and inspiring.
Tel Aviv, Israel Liat Ayalon
Berlin, Germany Clemens Tesch-Römer
August 2017
v
Contents
1 Introduction to the Section: Ageism—Concept and Origins .............. 1
Liat Ayalon and Clemens Tesch-Römer
2 Ageism: The Relationship between Age Stereotypes
and Age Discrimination .......................................................................... 11
Peggy Voss, Ehud Bodner, and Klaus Rothermund
3 Multiple Marginalizations Based on Age: Gendered
Ageism and Beyond ................................................................................. 33
Clary Krekula, Pirjo Nikander, and Monika Wilińska
4 Origins of Ageism at the Individual Level ............................................ 51
Sagit Lev, Susanne Wurm, and Liat Ayalon
5 Work Environment and the Origin of Ageism ..................................... 73
Laura Naegele, Wouter De Tavernier, and Moritz Hess
6 Ageism and Age Discrimination in the Labour Market:
A Macrostructural Perspective .............................................................. 91
Justyna Stypińska and Pirjo Nikander
7 Introduction to the Section: On the Manifestations
and Consequences of Ageism ................................................................. 109
Liat Ayalon and Clemens Tesch-Römer
8 Ageism in the Third Age ......................................................................... 115
Angela Kydd, Anne Fleming, Sue Gardner,
and Trish Hafford-Letchfield
9 Pathways from Ageism to Loneliness .................................................... 131
Sharon Shiovitz-Ezra, Jonathan Shemesh,
and Mary McDonnell/Naughton
vii
viii Contents
10 Ageism and Sexuality .............................................................................. 149
Ateret Gewirtz-Meydan, Trish Hafford-Letchfield, Yael Benyamini,
Amanda Phelan, Jeanne Jackson, and Liat Ayalon
11 Visual Ageism in the Media .................................................................... 163
Eugène Loos and Loredana Ivan
12 Ageism and Older Immigrants .............................................................. 177
Pnina Dolberg, Sigurveig H. Sigurðardóttir, and Ursula Trummer
13 Ageism in the Health Care System: Providers, Patients,
and Systems ............................................................................................. 193
Mary F. Wyman, Sharon Shiovitz-Ezra, and Jürgen Bengel
14 Ageism in Medication Use in Older Patients ........................................ 213
Daniela Fialová, Ingrid Kummer, Margita Držaić,
and Marcel Leppée
15 Ageism in Mental Health Assessment and Treatment
of Older Adults ........................................................................................ 241
Ehud Bodner, Yuval Palgi, and Mary F. Wyman
16 Ageism and Dementia ............................................................................. 263
Simon Chester Evans
17 Ageism and Neuropsychological Tests ................................................... 277
Boaz M. Ben-David, Gali Malkin, and Hadas Erel
18 Introduction to the Section: Against Ageism ........................................ 299
Liat Ayalon and Clemens Tesch-Römer
19 Ageism and Anti-Ageism in the Legal System:
A Review of Key Themes ........................................................................ 303
Israel (Issi) Doron, Ann Numhauser-Henning, Benny Spanier,
Nena Georgantzi, and Eugenio Mantovani
20 The Council of Europe’s Approach towards Ageism ........................... 321
Barbara Mikołajczyk
21 The European Union’s Approach towards Ageism .............................. 341
Nena Georgantzi
22 Ageism and the Rights of Older People ................................................ 369
Annika Taghizadeh Larsson and Håkan Jönson
23 Educational Methods Using Intergenerational
Interaction to Fight Ageism .................................................................... 383
María del Carmen Requena, Hannah J. Swift, Laura Naegele,
Marc Zwamborn, Susan Metz, Wilco P. H. Bosems,
and Joost van Hoof
Contents ix
24 Introduction to the Section: Researching Ageism ................................ 403
Liat Ayalon and Clemens Tesch-Römer
25 Normative, Empiricist, and Interpretive Considerations
in the Ageism Research Process ............................................................. 409
Fredrik Snellman
26 Ageism in a Cross-Cultural Perspective: Reflections
from the Research Field ......................................................................... 425
Monika Wilińska, Astrid de Hontheim, and Els-Marie Anbäcken
27 Agisem in the European Region: Finding from the European
Social Survey ........................................................................................... 441
Hannah J. Swift, Dominic Abrams, Sibila Marques, Christin-
Melanie Vauclair, Christopher Bratt, and Maria-Luisa Lima
28 Measures of Ageism in the Labour Market in International
Social Studies ........................................................................................... 461
Liili Abuladze and Jolanta Perek-Białas
29 Researching Ageism in Health-Care and Long Term Care ................. 493
Sandra C. Buttigieg, Stefania Ilinca, José M. S. de Sao Jose,
and Annika Taghizadeh Larsson
30 Children’s Attitudes toward Older People: Current
and Future Directions ............................................................................. 517
Joana Mendonça, Sibila Marques, and Dominic Abrams
31 Researching Ageism through Discourse ................................................ 549
Amanda Phelan
Erratum ........................................................................................................... E1
About the Authors
Dominic Abrams PhD, is professor of social psychology and director of the
Centre for the Study of Group Processes at the University of Kent. His research
focuses on the psychological dynamics of social exclusion and inclusion within and
between groups. He is codirector and founder of the European Research Group on
Attitudes to Age, which designed the European Social Survey Round 4 module on
experiences and expressions of ageism, (http://www.eurage.com). He is coeditor
with Michael A. Hogg of the journal Group Processes & Intergroup Relations and
(with Melanie Killen) of the Journal of Social Issues (2014) special issue on social
exclusion and children. He is a past president of SPSSI, fellow of the Academy of
Social Sciences and vice president of the British Academy.
Liili Abuladze MSc, is a PhD researcher in demography and a project manager at
the Estonian Institute for Population Studies, Tallinn University. Her PhD research
focuses on population ageing and its consequences in Estonia and other European
countries. She is a national representative at the Academic Network of Experts on
Disability (ANED). She has previously attended a research master programme in
population studies at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, and the European
Doctoral School of Demography.
Els-Marie Anbäcken has been an associate professor in social work at Mälardalen
University (Sweden) since 2014. She was born and brought up in Japan, which
continuously influences her life and research. After the PhD thesis (1997), “an eth-
nography focusing on filial duty and eldercare in the Japanese society”, she has
continued with research on later life, in both explicitly and implicitly comparative
studies. From 2000 to 2008 and 2012 to 2014, she belonged to the Faculty of Social
and Welfare Studies at Linköping University. In 2006 (–2011), she became the coor-
dinator of the Swedish-Japanese research network on ageing and care. In 2008 she
moved to Japan for a full-time professorship at Kwansei Gakuin University, School
of Human Welfare Studies, where she did 4 years of teaching and researching in
gerontology, end-of-life care and international social work. She continued to deepen
these research profiles, focusing on existential needs in later life as well as
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