# Study Guide: Chapter 6 — Aging And Ageism

> Organized by textbook section. Review the objectives, study topics, key takeaways, and questions for each section.

## 6.1: The Concept and Experience of Aging

### Study Topics
- Dimensions of Aging

### Key Terms
- **gerontology** — The study of aging.
- **psychological aging** — The psychological changes, including those involving mental functioning and personality, that occur as we age.
- **Social aging** — The changes in roles and relationships that occur as people age.

### Learning Objectives
1. Define social gerontology.
2. Distinguish biological aging, psychological aging, and social aging.

### Key Takeaways
- The study of the elderly and aging helps us understand problems in a state of the life course we all hope to reach.
- Biological aging refers to the physical changes that accompany the aging process, while psychological aging refers to the psychological changes that occur.
- Social aging refers to the changes in a person’s roles and relationships as the person ages.

### Review Questions
1. Think about an older person whom you know. To what extent has this person experienced psychological aging? To what extent has this person experienced social aging?
2. The text states that the perception of aging in the United States is not very positive. What do you think accounts for this?

## 6.2: Perspectives on Aging

### Study Topics
- Table 6.1 Theory Snapshot

### Key Terms
- **activity theory** — The view by social gerontologists that older people will benefit both themselves and their society if they remain active and try to continue to perform the roles they had before they aged.
- **ageism** — Negative views about and prejudice and discrimination against older people.
- **Capitalism** — An economic system in which the means of production are privately owned.
- **conflict theory** — The view that society is composed of groups with different interests arising from their placement in the social structure.
- **Discrimination** — With regard to racial and ethnic inequality, the arbitrary denial of rights, privileges, and opportunities to members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups.
- **disengagement theory** — The view, now largely abandoned, by some past social gerontologists that a society needs to encourage its elderly to disengage from their previous roles and to take on roles more appropriate to their declining physical and mental abilities.
- **race** — A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature.
- **Social aging** — The changes in roles and relationships that occur as people age.

### Learning Objectives
1. State the assumptions of disengagement, activity, and conflict theories of aging.
2. Critically assess these three theories.

### Key Takeaways
- Disengagement theory assumes that all societies must find ways for older people’s authority to give way to younger people. A society thus encourages its elderly to disengage from their previous roles and to take on roles more appropriate to their physical and mental decline.
- Activity theory assumes that older people will benefit both themselves and their society if they remain active and try to continue to perform the roles they had before they aged.

### Review Questions
1. Which theory of aging—disengagement theory, activity theory, or conflict theory—makes the most sense to you? Why?

## 6.3: Life Expectancy and the Graying of Society

### Study Topics
- Figure 6.2 Percentage of Population Aged 65 or Older, 2011
- Life Expectancy in the United States
- Figure 6.3 Changes in US Life Expectancy at Birth, 1900–2010
- Inequality in Life Expectancy

### Key Terms
- **family** — A group of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or a mutual commitment and who care for one another.
- **health care** — The provision of medical services to prevent, diagnose, and treat health problems.
- **life expectancy** — The average age to which people can be expected to live.
- **race** — A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature.

### Learning Objectives
1. Describe the differences in life expectancy around the world.
2. List the potential problems associated with the growing proportion of older individuals in poor nations.
3. Explain the evidence for inequality in US life expectancy.

### Key Takeaways
- Life expectancy differs widely around the world and is much higher in wealthy nations than in poor nations.
- Life expectancy has also been increasing around the world, including in the United States, and the increasing number of older people in the decades ahead will pose several serious challenges.
- Inequality in life expectancy exists within a given society along gender, race/ethnicity, and social class lines.

### Review Questions
1. As our nation and the world both “gray,” what do you think is the most important problem that will stem from the increasing number of older people?
2. Write a short essay in which you discuss the problems that an elderly person you know, perhaps a grandparent, has experienced related to being older.

## 6.4: Biological and Psychological Aspects of Aging

### Study Topics
- Enhancing Vitality for Successful Aging
- Children and Our Future
- Applying Social Research

### Key Terms
- **economy** — The social institution that organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of a society’s goods and services.
- **family** — A group of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or a mutual commitment and who care for one another.
- **psychological aging** — The psychological changes, including those involving mental functioning and personality, that occur as we age.
- **stereotypes** — Simplified, mistaken generalizations about people because of their race and/or ethnicity.

### Learning Objectives
1. Describe any four biological changes associated with aging.
2. List any three steps that individuals can try to undertake to achieve successful aging.

### Key Takeaways
- Certain biological, cognitive, and psychological changes occur as people age. These changes reinforce the negative view of the elderly, but this view nonetheless reflects stereotypes and myths about aging and the elderly.
- Regular exercise, good nutrition, stress reduction, involvement in personal networks, and religious involvement all enhance successful aging.

### Review Questions
1. Do you think the negative view of older people that is often found in our society is an unfair stereotype, or do you think there is actually some truth to this stereotype? Explain your answer.
2. Referring back to Chapter 1’s discussion of Émile Durkheim, how does research that documents the importance of personal networks for successful aging reflect Durkheim’s insights?

## 6.5: Problems Facing Older Americans

### Study Topics
- Physical and Mental Health
- Figure 6.6 Age and Self-Reported Health
- Figure 6.7 Medicare Expenditures, 1980–2010
- Nursing Home Care
- Financial Security and Employment
- Lessons from Other Societies
- Workplace Ageism
- Bereavement and Social Isolation
- Table 6.3 Living Arrangements of Noninstitutionalized Older Americans, 2010
- Men (%) Women (%)
- Elder Abuse
- Senior Power: Older Americans as a Political Force
- People Making a Difference

### Key Terms
- **ageism** — Negative views about and prejudice and discrimination against older people.
- **Discrimination** — With regard to racial and ethnic inequality, the arbitrary denial of rights, privileges, and opportunities to members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups.
- **elder abuse** — Physical violence, mental and emotional abuse, neglect of care, and financial exploitation committed against the elderly, most often by their relatives who are caring for them.
- **episodic poverty** — As defined by the Census Bureau, being poor for at least two consecutive months in some time period.
- **family** — A group of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or a mutual commitment and who care for one another.
- **generational equity** — The argument by critics of political activism on behalf of older Americans that programs for the elderly threaten to take money from programs to help younger Americans either now or as they age.
- **gerontology** — The study of aging.
- **health care** — The provision of medical services to prevent, diagnose, and treat health problems.
- **life expectancy** — The average age to which people can be expected to live.
- **race** — A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature.
- **sexual harassment** — Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or physical conduct of a sexual nature that is used as a condition of employment or promotion or that interferes with an individual’s job performance and creates an intimidating or hostile environment.
- **stereotypes** — Simplified, mistaken generalizations about people because of their race and/or ethnicity.

### Learning Objectives
1. Present a brief sociodemographic profile of the US elderly.
2. Discuss the several problems experienced by the US elderly.
3. Describe how the social attitudes of older Americans generally differ from those of younger Americans.

### Key Takeaways
- The US elderly experience several health problems, including arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease, hearing loss, vision problems, diabetes, and dementia.
- Nursing home care in the United States is very expensive and often substandard; neglect and abuse of nursing home residents is fairly common.
- Despite help from Social Security, many older Americans face problems of financial security.
- It is difficult to determine the actual extent of elder abuse, but elder abuse often has serious consequences for the health and lives of older Americans.
- During the last few decades, older Americans have been active in the political process on their own behalf and today are an important political force in the United States.

### Review Questions
1. What do you think is the worst or most serious problem facing the US elderly? Explain your answer.
2. The text suggests that the lives of the US elderly would be improved if the United States were to adopt some of the policies and practices that other nations have for their elderly. Explain why you agree or disagree with this suggestion.

## 6.6: Reducing Ageism and Helping Older Americans

### Key Terms
- **ageism** — Negative views about and prejudice and discrimination against older people.
- **gerontology** — The study of aging.
- **health care** — The provision of medical services to prevent, diagnose, and treat health problems.
- **race** — A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature.
- **sexism** — The belief that women are inferior to men.
- **stereotypes** — Simplified, mistaken generalizations about people because of their race and/or ethnicity.

### Learning Objectives
1. Understand the contradictory impulses that make it difficult to predict the future for older Americans.
2. Discuss any two programs or policies that should help address some of the problems facing older Americans.

### Key Takeaways
- Although the number of older Americans will be increasing in the years ahead, the baby boomers who are now reaching old age will be better educated and wealthier than older Americans of past generations.
- Efforts to help older Americans would benefit from relying on the models practiced by other Western democracies.

### Review Questions
1. What do you think is the most important action the United States should take to help older Americans?
2. Does it make sense for the United States to follow the example of other democracies as it tries to help older Americans, or is the United States different enough from these nations that it does not make sense to do so? Explain your answer.

## 6.7: End-of-Chapter Material

### Key Terms
- **activity theory** — The view by social gerontologists that older people will benefit both themselves and their society if they remain active and try to continue to perform the roles they had before they aged.
- **ageism** — Negative views about and prejudice and discrimination against older people.
- **conflict theory** — The view that society is composed of groups with different interests arising from their placement in the social structure.
- **Discrimination** — With regard to racial and ethnic inequality, the arbitrary denial of rights, privileges, and opportunities to members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups.
- **disengagement theory** — The view, now largely abandoned, by some past social gerontologists that a society needs to encourage its elderly to disengage from their previous roles and to take on roles more appropriate to their declining physical and mental abilities.
- **elder abuse** — Physical violence, mental and emotional abuse, neglect of care, and financial exploitation committed against the elderly, most often by their relatives who are caring for them.
- **gerontology** — The study of aging.
- **life expectancy** — The average age to which people can be expected to live.
- **Social aging** — The changes in roles and relationships that occur as people age.
- **stereotypes** — Simplified, mistaken generalizations about people because of their race and/or ethnicity.

### Chapter Summary
1. Gerontology is the study of aging. Gerontologists study the biological, psychological, and social dimensions of aging. Social gerontologists focus on social aging and distinguish several dimensions of aging, which refers to changes in people’s roles and relationships as they age.
2. The perception and experience of aging vary from one society to another and within a given society over time.
3. Sociological explanations of aging include disengagement theory, activity theory, and conflict theory. Disengagement theory emphasizes the need of society to disengage its elders from their previous roles to pave the way for a younger and presumably more able generation to take over those roles. In contrast, activity theory assumes that elders need to remain active to enhance their physical and mental health. Conflict theory emphasizes ageism, or discrimination and prejudice against the elderly, and the structural barriers society poses to elders’ economic and other aspects of overall well-being.
4. Life expectancy differs dramatically around the world and within the United States, where it’s lower for men and lower for people of color. Because life expectancy has increased, people are living longer, resulting in a “graying of society.” In the United States, the imminent entrance of the baby boom generation into its older years will further fuel a large rise in the number of older Americans. This graying of society may strain traditional economic and medical programs for their care and affect views of aging and the elderly.
5. Although aging involves several physiological and psychological changes, negative stereotypes of aging and the elderly exaggerate the extent and impact of these changes. Proper exercise, nutrition, and stress reduction can minimize the effects of aging, as can religious involvement and informal social support networks.
6. As a diverse group, older Americans differ greatly in terms of wealth and poverty, education, health, and other dimensions. They face several problems because of their age, including illness and disability, financial security, employment obstacles, and elder abuse. For several reasons, older Americans generally hold more conservative views on social and moral issues. At the same time, groups working on behalf of older Americans in the political arena have succeeded in bringing elder issues to the attention of public officials and political parties.
7. As the ranks of older Americans swell in the years ahead, elders will be better educated and wealthier than their predecessors, but their sheer numbers may impose considerable strain on social institutions. Already there are signs of perceived conflict between the needs of the elderly and those of younger generations. However, advocates for older Americans believe that efforts to help elders now will in the long run help younger Americans when they finally reach their old age.

### Application
It is about twenty years from now, and a close friend of yours is facing a difficult decision. Her mother is in failing health and might have the onset of dementia. It has become increasingly apparent that she can no longer live alone, and your friend is trying to decide whether to have her mother come live with her, to arrange for in-home care for her, or to place her into residential care. What advice do you give to your friend?

### Action Ideas
To help reduce inequality based on aging and ageism and the problems facing older people, you may wish to do any of the following:

1. Volunteer at a senior citizens’ center, residential care facility, or nursing home.
2. Write a letter to the editor about media stereotypes about older people.
3. Start a group on your campus to educate students about the problems facing senior citizens.