Influence of Contact Experience and Germ Aversion on Negative Attitudes Toward Older Adults: Role of Youth Identity
The world’s population is currently aging, and the issue of ageism has become serious worldwide, including in Japan. Negative attitudes toward older adults can have undesirable effects on the mental and physical health of this group. We focused on the effects of contact experience with older adults...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.829742/full |
| _version_ | 1818338621155966976 |
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| author | Yuho Shimizu Takaaki Hashimoto Kaori Karasawa |
| author_facet | Yuho Shimizu Takaaki Hashimoto Kaori Karasawa |
| author_sort | Yuho Shimizu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The world’s population is currently aging, and the issue of ageism has become serious worldwide, including in Japan. Negative attitudes toward older adults can have undesirable effects on the mental and physical health of this group. We focused on the effects of contact experience with older adults and germ aversion, or the degree of aversion to infection, on negative attitudes toward older adults. Additionally, we included a moderating variable; youth identity, or the sense of belonging with younger rather than older age groups. An online survey was conducted with Japanese participants (N = 603). We conducted multiple regression analyses and the results showed that the interaction effect between youth identity and contact experience on negative attitudes toward older adults was significant. The findings suggest that contact experience may help in reducing negative attitudes toward older adults among people with low youth identity. The interaction effect between youth identity and germ aversion, however, was not significant. Academic research on the effects of some psychological interventions (e.g., intergenerational social exchange) should pay particular attention to the role of youth identity. Future directions for empirical studies are also discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T15:14:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bbb9741711cb4602b65ad77e27f6c64e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T15:14:01Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-bbb9741711cb4602b65ad77e27f6c64e2022-12-21T23:40:46ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-03-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.829742829742Influence of Contact Experience and Germ Aversion on Negative Attitudes Toward Older Adults: Role of Youth IdentityYuho Shimizu0Takaaki Hashimoto1Kaori Karasawa2Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, JapanFaculty of Sociology, Toyo University, Tokyo, JapanGraduate School of Humanities and Sociology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, JapanThe world’s population is currently aging, and the issue of ageism has become serious worldwide, including in Japan. Negative attitudes toward older adults can have undesirable effects on the mental and physical health of this group. We focused on the effects of contact experience with older adults and germ aversion, or the degree of aversion to infection, on negative attitudes toward older adults. Additionally, we included a moderating variable; youth identity, or the sense of belonging with younger rather than older age groups. An online survey was conducted with Japanese participants (N = 603). We conducted multiple regression analyses and the results showed that the interaction effect between youth identity and contact experience on negative attitudes toward older adults was significant. The findings suggest that contact experience may help in reducing negative attitudes toward older adults among people with low youth identity. The interaction effect between youth identity and germ aversion, however, was not significant. Academic research on the effects of some psychological interventions (e.g., intergenerational social exchange) should pay particular attention to the role of youth identity. Future directions for empirical studies are also discussed.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.829742/fullageismprejudicecontact experiencegerm aversionidentityinteraction effects |
| spellingShingle | Yuho Shimizu Takaaki Hashimoto Kaori Karasawa Influence of Contact Experience and Germ Aversion on Negative Attitudes Toward Older Adults: Role of Youth Identity Frontiers in Psychology ageism prejudice contact experience germ aversion identity interaction effects |
| title | Influence of Contact Experience and Germ Aversion on Negative Attitudes Toward Older Adults: Role of Youth Identity |
| title_full | Influence of Contact Experience and Germ Aversion on Negative Attitudes Toward Older Adults: Role of Youth Identity |
| title_fullStr | Influence of Contact Experience and Germ Aversion on Negative Attitudes Toward Older Adults: Role of Youth Identity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Influence of Contact Experience and Germ Aversion on Negative Attitudes Toward Older Adults: Role of Youth Identity |
| title_short | Influence of Contact Experience and Germ Aversion on Negative Attitudes Toward Older Adults: Role of Youth Identity |
| title_sort | influence of contact experience and germ aversion on negative attitudes toward older adults role of youth identity |
| topic | ageism prejudice contact experience germ aversion identity interaction effects |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.829742/full |
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