Donald P. Kent Memorial Lecture
Can We Invalidate Negative Stereotypes of Aging?1 Clark Tibbitts: Introduction words of tribute to the one in whose memory I am pleased to have this opportunity to dis- this award was established. Don Kent was a cuss a facet of aging that has intrigued me ever scholarly and objective sociologist, at home since I entered what has shaped into a field about in both the university and a bureaucratic seta third of a century ago. My thesis is that over ting. His lead article in The Gerontologist for the past 30 to 40 years American society has June 1965 is entitled " A g i n g — Fact and Fancy." been transforming itself from one in which It was written first as a speech to admonish his older people were held in increasingly low colleagues in the network to substitute facts esteem and characterized by a multiplicity of for the stereotypes that were guiding the thinkderogative stereotypes to one in which the ing and action of many in the field. roles and styles of life of older adults will be viewed as positive and contributive to the qual- Stereotypes and Their Origins ity of life for themselves, for their communities, and for the total society. An older person thinks and moves slowly. He The transformation will move at a deliberate does not think as he used to or as creatively. He is pace because: (1) institutionalized negative bound to himself and to his past and can no longer concepts and values change slowly; (2) the change or grow. He can learn neither well nor deteriorations of advanced age and the prospect swiftly and, even if he could, he would not wish to. of final withdrawal will continueto be negatively Tied to his personal traditions and growing conservaheld; and (3) further extension of life and grow- tism, he dislikes innovations and is not disposed to ing numbers of aged will increase the prevalence new ideas. Not only can he not move forward, he of older adults who manifest circumstances often moves backward. He enters a second childwhich have given rise to negative stereotyping. hood, caught up in increasing egocentricity and demanding more from his environment than he is Over the foreseeable future at least, it will willing to give to it. Sometimes he becomes an be necessary to recognize two elements in the intensification of himself, a caricature of a lifelong older population: (1) the clear majority who are personality. He becomes irritable and cantankerous, healthy and as functional as they choose to be, yet shallow and enfeebled. He lives in his past; he thus to whom negative stereotypes are or will is behind the times. He is aimless and wandering of be inapplicable; and (2) those with varying mind, reminiscing and garrulous. Indeed, he is a degrees of physical, mental, and/or social dis- study in decline, the picture of mental and physical ability who display some characteristics that failure. He has lost and cannot replace friends, coincide with some elements of negative stereo- spouse, job, status, power, influence, income. He types. Today, increasing numbers of older is often stricken by diseases which, in turn, restrict people, researchers, and practitioners are re- his movement, his enjoyment of food, the pleasures of well-being. He has lost his desire and capacity jecting devaluation of the majority of those in for sex. His body shrinks, and so does the flow of the second group. blood to his brain. His mind does not utilize oxygen I should like to observe the tradition estab- and sugar at the same rate as formerly. Feeble, unlished by my predecessors and speak a few interesting, he awaits his death, a burden to society, to his family and to himself (Butler, 1975). 'Presented to the 31st Annual Scientific Meeting of The Gerontological Society, Dallas, TX, Nov. 17, 1978. 'Administration on Aging, U. S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Washington, DC 20201.
Most of you will recognize the paragraph, lifted from Why Survive? Being Old in America,
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and 40s had their origins largely in American experience around and following the turn of the century. In a chapter on "Cultural Origins of PresentDay Ageism," Gerald Gruman (1978) traces the beginning of modern ageism in the U.S. to the Modernist Transformation period following the close of the frontier in the 1890s. When the American goal shifted to the development of a strong, aggressive nation curbing weakness at home and conquering new territories abroad, adulthood, he says, came to be problematic, the elders to seem definitely inadequate, with the young looming as a raw but promising resource. Vigorously espousing this view, Theodore Roosevelt set about ridding the Navy of its senior officers, replacing them with young men of extraordinary energy, initiative, and willingness to accept responsibility. "Weaklings and those who feared hard work and war," he said, should "vanish from the earth." "In the 1890s and 1900s," Gruman notes, "it became standard practice for industry to shut out workers over the age of 40." Subsequently, when industry was recruiting workers from other countries, severe quotas were established limiting the entry of older persons. And, in the 1930s the second Roosevelt inveighed against the "nine old men" of the Supreme Court, proclaiming that "a lowered mental and physical vigor leads men to avoid examination of complicated and changed situations . . . older men . . . ceased to explore or inquire," and sought to revitalize the court with younger intellects. Sir William Osier (Gruman, 1978) comAccording to all the standards we employ socially as well as privately, the aged person is condemned plained of the comparative uselessness of men as inferior. In terms of manpower he is a liability, past 40 and of the absolute uselessness of men a burden, a drain on our resources. Conditioned to past 60. operate as a machine for making and spending Early negative stereotypes were reinforced money, with all other relationships dependent upon when the field began to develop. Steffi (1978) its efficiency, the moment the machine is out of order and beyond repair, one begins to feel like a ghost observed that "early research described charwithout a sense of reality . . . a person who does acteristics of. . .aged congregated in poor farms, not dream anymore, devoid of ambition, living in nursing homes, and state mental hospitals leadfear of losing his status. Regarding himself as a ing to a general picture of impaired elderly," person who has outlived his usefulness, he feels and "created pity and revulsion [which] ceras if he had to apologize for being alive (Heschel, tainly added to the development of negative 1961). attitudes toward the aged in our youth-oriented, production-oriented society." Much of what was said about the elderly Leo Simmons (1945) reported wide variations in attitudes toward older people in early cul- 30 years ago came from these studies and from tures, ranging from deification to abandonment. physicians and welfare workers whose elderly It appears likely, however, that the negative clients were mainly physically and socially stereotypes prevalent in this country in the 30s dependent and whose consequent testimony as Robert Butler's (1975) composite statement of stereotypes regarding the older segment of the population in the U.S. Although it is doubtless more comprehensive than a characterization that might have been written during the 1930s and 40s, I suggest that it describes the general view of older people held during that period. From my own recollection, stereotypes were evident in a variety of ways. The sharp rise in the prevalence of chronic diseases from middle age upward and general adherence to the view that they were inevitable and untreatable led to the widely held belief that aging and chronic disease were synonomous. The assumed cost-ineffectiveness of older workers resulted in a Depression unemployment rate three times that for younger workers. It became a major factor in creation of the Social Security program to support the large numbers of older workers it was said would never again qualify for participation in the labor force. Hundreds of forgetful, sometimes confused, or depressed older persons were being tagged as senile and committed to mental hospitals. County almshouses were overflowing with indigent older people presumed to be no longer useful to themselves or their communities. The belief that older people had little to offer to family or community led to invention of the concept of "roleless role." The early devaluation of older people persisted, leading Rabbi Heschel (1961) to tell delegates to the 1961 White House Conference on Aging that,
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the later years of life, and the right to live and die with dignity. In addition, the charter imposed responsibility on the older individual to remain active and alert, to maintain health and flexibility, to seek and develop potential avenues of service in the retirement years, and to share the benefits of his experience and knowledge. The charter became a public statement of goals when it was made the basis for Title I of the Older Americans Act of 1965, and was given nationKinship ties, maintenance of age-related traditions, wide reiteration during observances of the respect for knowledge and wisdom of the aged have Nation's Bicentennial Celebration. all been associated with high status for the elderly Although the 1960s witnessed the developand positive feelings about growing old. However, under modern conditions of rapid technological ment of numerous programs and facilities to change, rapid increases in the relative and absolute support the dependent elderly, the decade was numbers of the aged, and a general decline in ex- characterized also by provision of opportunitended kinship systems throughout most of the de- ties for fully functional older people, by efforts veloped and developing world, it is not surprising to identify new roles for the post-parental and to find, as one study did, that among attitudes con- post-work years, and by the growth of organizacerning the aged in Great Britain, Sweden, Greece, Japan, and Puerto Rico that there was a "ubiquitous- tions of older people. The 1971 White House Conference on Aging ness of the beliefs, transcending geography, education and cultural differences" which represented a recognized the increasing articulateness of predominant negative perception about the prospects older adults — 80% of the delegates were over of growing old regardless of culture (Katz, 1978). 45 years of age and 35% 65 and over — and gave strong emphasis to environmental conditions supportive of active participation, independence, and role choices (Anonymous, 1973). Positive Views of Older People The conference climate led also to mounting Notwithstanding the pervasiveness of these criticism of stereotypes and to positive attitudes derogatory views of older people, there were toward older people. Thus, in the conference some who expressed contrary views. One turnbackground paper on research Maddox (1971) ing point came with a report from the National Health Assembly of 1948 which advised the made the statement that "Behavioral and social Federal Security Administrator that old age and scientists... have demonstrated that the totally chronic disease are not synonomous and urged bleak picture of older people as inevitably alone, him to explore the broader range of the emergent lonely, disabled, impoverished, and incompephenomena of aging (Federal Security Agency, tent is a misleading caricature of the aged . . . " He went on to state that: "Older persons retain 1951), These recommendations led the Adminis- a capacity for learning which they demonstrate trator, Oscar Ewing, with President Truman's under conditions which do not stress speed of support, to call the 1950 National Conference response or arouse undue anxiety. Moreover, on Aging. Conferees urged that "society free institutionalized older persons without severe itself from the traditional prejudices against organic brain damage can and do respond posiold age and launch . . . a campaign to accent tively to enriched opportunities in the environthe positive characteristics of the aging for con- ment. Similarly, industrial gerontologists have tinued occupational usefulness, citizenship, consistently demonstrated that older workers and family life" (Federal Security Agency, can perform common tasks at work much better than popular stereotypes would suggest." 1951). Delegates to one section of the 1961 White A few years later Aaron Lipman (1976) made House Conference on Aging developed a Senior a similar statement: "although a sizeable perCitizens Charter (Anonymous, 1961) which centage of older people suffer from poverty, called for measures to relieve the plight of the illness, and social isolation, the majority of disadvantaged elderly but also emphasized older people are not poverty stricken, socially the right of all older people to usefulness, in- isolated, rejected by their children or institudependence, access to knowledge to improve tionalized. While the needy among the aged are certainly hardened the view of aging as irreversible loss. Negative concepts were perpetuated and spread, of course, when program agencies and welfare-oriented organizations began to plead with the Congress for meliorative legislation in behalf of the impaired, deprived, dependent elderly. Summing up with a somewhat broader perspective, Solomon Katz (1978) stated that:
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The Gerontologist
more numerous than the needy among the young, they are a numerical minority . . . of the total aged cohort." Butler (1975) stated that "As in all cliches, stereotypes, and myths there are bits of truth. But many of the current views of old age represent confusions, misunderstandings or simply a lack of knowledge .. . others may be completely inaccurate or biased, reflecting prejudice or outright hostility." He went on to state that older people tend to remain productive and involved, that the alleged mutual withdrawal of society and the older person is not a universal part of the aging experience, that older people living in the community are flexible and responsive to innovation and change, that the term senility is inappropriately used to categorize treatable conditions that have little or no relationship to brain damage, and that much of the al leged serenity of older persons is a myth. In light of such observations, there have been increasingly persistent calls for a sharp change in attitudes. Thus, William Bevan (1972) writing in Science said, "The key in the problems of aging is not natural resources or the know-how of the medical and behavioral sciences. It is a fundamental change in attitude." He added that "behavioral scientists would serve society well in their role of citizen if they found ways to facilitate the change." In 1977, Howard Speirer, reporting on a conference on Major Transitions in the Human Life Cycle, cites Baltes and Schaie to the effect that "the failure . . . of older people to perform as well [as younger people] in the cognitive domain is not due to inherent incompetencies, but largely to deficiencies in their environment." Robert Aldrich is cited to the effect that "The importance of environmental influences suggests an approach to the life cycle that focuses on culture, values, and attitudes — and the implications these have for the quality of life and public policy. Particularly germane is the negative attitude .. . toward the elderly acquired in childhood and reinforced throughout society . . . which . . . contributes to the rate of aging of many individuals." "What our new value system dictates," said the conference "[is] the need for new roles for the elderly, expanded support systems, new relationships between education, work, and leisure, opportunities for older Americans to continue their education, pursue hobbies, and participate in athletics need to be expanded" (Speirer, 1977).
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Positive Roles for Older Adults in a Maturing Society
Recognition of current and evolving roles of older adults may be viewed as a manifestation of the changing structure, values, and attitudes of post-industrial American society. Several years ago, British futurist Ian Wilson (1971) articulated the position that the social economy of the U.S. has entered a period he called The New Reformation. His basic point was that, having virtually achieved the goal of meeting physiological requirements for survival, America's emergent challenge is that of enhancing the qualitative sector of individual and public aspirations and expectations. Wilson identified several changes taking place in American culture, as follows: • Importance of the work ethic is receding; leisure activities are gaining validity in their own right. • With independence and satisfaction of material needs assured, Americans are moving toward interdependence and meeting public needs. • Primacy of technical efficiency is making way for considerations of social justice and equity. • Dictates of organizational convenience are making room for aspirations of self-development of organization members. • Authoritarianism is yielding to participation in decision making. • Uniformity and centralization are being supplanted by pluralism and diversity. • Preservation of system status quo and routine is being rejected in favor of promotion and acceptance of change with increasing opportunity for growth, self-actualization, and realization of one's full range of potential. Wilson's position is reinforced in greater or lesser degree by such observers as Herman Kahn (1970), Solomon Katz (1978), Gerald Gruman (1978), Willis Harman (1977), and, of course, Neugarten (1976) and Havighurst (1978). These societal redirections have particular significance for middle-aged and older adults many of whom have been pioneering in search of opportunities for intellectual growth, expanded role performance, life satisfaction, sense of usefulness, achievement, and fulfillment. Although sizeable proportions of the elderly population are handicapped, as noted, by low
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income, mental and physical disabilities, educational poverty, and paucity of positive societal expectations, growing numbers of them, too, are finding their way into satisfying roles on their own initiative or in response to societal encouragement. Later life-styles are being developed through such options, differentially available of course, as continued paid employment, voluntary service, citizenship and political activities, kinship services, education, and socialization and recreation. Involvement in several of these roles will be cited as evidence of the efforts of successive generations of older adults to enhance the quality of their own lives, and, for many, the lives of their fellow citizens. The Work Role The degree of commitment of older adults to the work role and the extent of society's commitment to providing work opportunities are dynamic, complex matters difficult to assess. Successive cohorts of middle-aged and older adults are living longer and enjoying Monger periods of health and vigor. The majority of their members retain work skills or could be retrained if necessary. On the other hand, both older adults and society are responding to technological achievements and changing values which free the majority of older, and rising proportions of middleaged, adults from work and work expectations. Work force participation of older men has declined dramatically over the past century — from more than two-thirds to about one-sixth. Nevertheless, gainful employment has positive value for significant numbers of older men and for markedly increasing proportions of middle-aged and even older women. Today, 2.9 million men and women 65 and over report themselves, at any one time, as employed or seeking work. The overall labor force participation rate is 12% of the 65-plus population, 17% for males and 9% for females. Only onefourth of the employed work full-time (Harris & Associates, 1976). The principal considerations that keep workers in the labor force beyond what has been the conventional retirement eligibility age are: need for income, exacerbated now by inflation; desire to feel useful and command societal respect through contributory activity; intrinsic satisfaction with one's particular work role; a significant activity around which to or-
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ganize one's life; and fear of retirement without a clear role. More than 19 million older people are not in the employed labor force. This large and growing number is comprised of women who have not entered the work force, voluntary retirees, unemployed labor force members, and those retired involuntarily by reason of job obsolescense, declining performance capacity, and employer retirement policies. The 1974 Harris Survey (Harris & Associates, 1976), however, turned up 4 million, 20% of the 19-plus millions, who said they would like to work. Fifteen percent (3 million) indicated interest in participating in a job training program that would help them re-enter the employed group. It should be observed, however, that, when people were questioned more closely, only 11% stated that they would seriously consider taking a job if it were offered; an additional 9% that they would possibly consider returning to work. Whatever the number of employment candidates may be, the fact that they are not employed indicates quite clearly that the stereotyped devaluation of older workers persists among employers, in spite of a very considerable amount of contradictory research over the past 30 years. As we all know, it has been reported repeatedly that the majority of employed older workers are as efficient and productive as younger workers, can be trained for new jobs as readily, and have fewer accidents and less absenteeism. When Harris Survey field workers interviewed persons having hiring and firing responsibility, they found that 52% rated older workers as satisfactory as they were when they were younger. On the other hand, 87% reported that employers do discriminate against older workers. And evidence suggests that one in five to two in five older workers leave the labor force because of an arbitrary mandatory age retirement policy (Harris & Associates, 1976). In spite of the persistence of negative work stereotypes, there is evidence that society as a whole is no longer as accepting of them as it appears to have been two or three decades ago. Thus, public policy is moving definitively to attack the concept of older worker redundancy and to facilitate the efforts of those who wish to remain part of the employed labor force to do so. Evidence is found in: • Repeated liberalization of the Social Security retirement test to enable older workers to
The Gerontologist
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• •
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augment their incomes through part-time work. A recent amendment to the act which calls for increasing the retirement benefit by 3% for each year a worker remains employed after age 65. The Anti-Age Discrimination Act of 1967 prohibiting age discrimination in hiring and firing of workers between ages 40 and 64. The recent mandatory retirement legislation which prohibits consideration of age as a criterion for retirement before age 70 in the private sector and eliminates the upper limit in federal employment. The CETA program, Title IX of the Older Americans Act, and CSA's Senior Services and Opportunities programs designed to afford work experience and training that enables older workers to find re-employment in regular jobs. The Age Discrimination Study, in which the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights made forthright recommendations for abandonment of discrimination on the basis of age in all federally assisted programs including those in the fields of rehabilitation, training, employment, and job finding and referral (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1977).
Change in societal attitudes may be reinforced by other developments becoming clearly visible. Currently, there is rising concern, as Sheppard (1977), eloquently notes, over the increasing costs of retirement income systems resulting from early retirement and longer, later life expectancy. Among measures being discussed for extending the work-life period, and thereby reducing the benefit period, are elimination of inducements to early retirement and raising the pension eligibility age. A second concern arises from recent fluctuations in fertility rates and in declining older age mortality rates. Though extended forecasts are generally uncertain, it appears more than likely that, fairly early in the next century, there will be a dearth of younger and middleaged workers to sustain the productive economy. And, almost a certainty that the increasing burden of supporting the retired population will overtax the financial capacities or willingness of the young and middle adult populations upon whom the responsibility will lie. This development, too, may be partially offset by extending the period of working life.
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If the foregoing analysis were extended to include the large and growing number of middle-aged (40 to 64 years of age) workers who have retired and of those who would prefer to work, the results would be similar to those reported above. Thus, it appears there is ample reason for at least the tentative conclusion that a need for manpower and for longer worklife periods coupled with persistent inflation and a leveling of productive output will lead to a positive evaluation of the older worker. The Volunteer Role Among persons in the later stages of life, interest in volunteer service appears to be rising almost as rapidly as commitment to the work role has been falling off. Traditionally an activity attractive particularly to young and middleaged adults, voluntary service is now attracting both youth and those of retirement age. Twenty-two percent of those age 65 and upward report doing volunteer work on an organized basis. An additional 10% indicated that they would welcome an opportunity (Harris & Associates, 1976). Margaret Hartford (1973), has reported that the voluntary service role is especially appealing to those whose parental and work roles are tapering off or completed. Challenging volunteer activity, she writes, yields personal satisfaction from knowing that one is helping to improve community life and the environment, preserves positive self-image as other societal expectations and responsibilities fade, and affords opportunity for continuing social involvement. Additionally, volunteers may derive satisfaction from knowing that they are measuring up to the positive beliefs of 80% of the American public who subscribe to the Harris poll statement that "voluntary service is essential to meet the community's needs and that everyone should do his share." Ninety-four percent of those polled are of the opinion that older people have skills for voluntary service and 80% that older people make good volunteers (Harris & Associates, 1976). There seems to be virtually no field of activity that does not offer opportunities for voluntary service or in which older people are not engaged. Of particular significance for their focus on involving older people are: the National Network on Aging, which mandates utilization of older people in the Nursing Home Ombudsman Program, the National Nutrition Program,
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and in all senior center and social service projects; ACTION'S FGP, RSVP, Senior Companion, VISTA, and Peace Corps programs; the Legal Service Corporation's use of older adults as para-legals; the Small Business Administration's SCORE; and the long-standing utilization of older adult volunteers by the Veterans Administration. Project SERVE, launched in New York City, enrolls 7,000 older people in the area for numerous activities matched to the interests of the volunteers. Utilization of older adults as teacher aides has become so widespread as to warrant establishment of a National Volunteer School Program. The National Center for Voluntary Action gives particular attention to the capacities of older adults for volunteer service. Numerous organizations at national, state, and community levels have been created to promote volunteerism, elevate the dignity of volunteer work, stimulate training, and urge recognition of worker performance and contribution. Federal interest in promoting volunteerism has led to a new category of workers: paid volunteers. Payment at the minimum wage for part-time volunteer work, reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenditures, and other forms of compensation are designed to encourage the participation of low-income older persons. The new category and other developments may result in obscuring the line between paid and voluntary work. The future is likely to bring further recognition to the work of the volunteers. Concern is being expressed over whether communities will be able to afford the expansion of services including the major expansion already resulting from the rapidly growing numbers of upper-aged persons. California's Governor Brown has stated that tax reductions will have to be offset, in part, by increased willingness of citizens to volunteer their services to community programs. Clearly, volunteer service represents a major area through which older adults may help to turn around widely held negative opinions of their potential usefulness.
Family Roles Shanas et al. (1968), have demonstrated that kinship ties remain viable through the adult years as revealed through expressions of affection and a variety of mutual intergenerational exchanges. Thus, most older adults find useful,
satisfying roles in contributing to the development and well-being of adult children and grandchildren. One contribution most older parents make is that of maintaining their own households as long as their circumstances permit, thereby retaining their autonomy and enabling the younger family to develop and pursue its own aspirations, including building resources for its own retirement years. Thus, in 1978, only 16% of those 65 years and over share a household with an adult child. In approximately onehalf of these shared situations, the older parent provides the home, frequently affording a refuge for an adult child during a crisis period or taking in one or more grandchildren. A paragraph from The Myth and Reality of Aging in America (Harris & Associates, 1976) succinctly describes the importance of a variety of contributions made by the older parent generation. In economic terms, the contribution that older people make to younger members of their family is substantial. In part, this contribution takes the form of gifts and money offered by older parents and grandparents to their offspring. In addition, however, the services performed by older people for their children and grandchildren represent substantial monetary savings for the young. As nurses for the ill, as repairers, and housekeepers, even as surrogate parents, the public 65 and over offer assistance to their children and grandchildren that would cost them dearly otherwise. Without the free services of older family members, the young would either have to resort to hiring outside help to perform these same tasks or, more likely, sacrifice some of their own income by taking time off from jobs to perform these same tasks themselves. There is a critical, even indispensable role that older people play in the lives of their children or grandchildren which is largely taken for granted today.
Increasing longevity, with its associated physical, mental, and social impairments in the late years, appears to be leading to another role for the younger, retired generation — that of providing a home and care for aged parents. Elaine Brody (1978) reports that half a million persons 65 and over now live in a household containing two older generations. And adds that women in their 50s and 60s are the principal caregivers. There is some indication that public policy may be moving toward an expectation that the young-old generation will become the caretakers of the old-old. A major issue may
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be in the near offing: will middle-aged people, conditioned to look forward to freedom from responsibility in the post-parental and retirement years, be urged to take on a new responsibility instead? Some countries are now offering financial and supporting services to older adults willing to do so. The Learner Role
The learner role is attracting growing proportions of older adults as it becomes increasingly recognized that continuing education is essential to meeting the demands and aspirations of longer life. This year, nearly 3.0 million middleaged (40 to 64 years) and 400,000 older (65plus) persons are enrolled for adult education. The proportions have increased more than 10% within the last decade. Recent surveys (Boaz, 1975; Florio, 1978) reveal that these older learners have enrolled for an aggregate of 900 different courses. Objectives of the courses have been to assist enrol lees to cope with the circumstances of later life living, to afford intellectual experience, to teach expressive skills, and to enhance capacity for performance in contributive, citizenship, and advocacy roles. Particularly impressive are the data on enrollment: 38% elected academic courses largely in the humanities; 36% hobby and recreation courses, and 22% information and consumer education courses. Although educational institutions are helping older adults develop new work skills, the proportions taking vocational courses falls off with age (Florio, 1978). Institutions of higher education are rapidly abandoning earlier stereotypes and recognizing that the new age groups coming to them have relatively undiminished capacity for learning and creativity. In 1976, 816 post-secondary institutions were extending opportunities for auditing or enrolling in regular classes, for electing courses designed to be of particular interest to older students, or for enrolling in programs specifically for older adults distinct from regular or continuing education programs (Florio, 1978). The spreading Elderhostel, advertised as a vacation-learning experience, seems to be valued by some older students primarily for the intellectual stimulation and knowledge growth provided. Scores of collegiate institutions, threatened with diminishing enrollments, are seeking to attract older adults by offering on-campus liv-
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ing, preparatory courses and tutoring, health services, counseling, and social and recreational opportunities. Institutions are reaching out to older adults by taking their offerings to senior centers, churches, and housing developments. Many are flouting the stereotype of loss of teaching competency by employing emeritus faculty and other retired persons as teachers, tutors, and program administrators. In a number of places, older adults are organizing their own educational programs after the manner of New York's Institute of Retired Professionals. Public agencies at federal, state, and community levels have been responding with growing support to the interests of older adults and to the educational institutions serving them. The Departments of Agriculture, Health, Education, and Welfare, and Labor foster education for older adults. Most of the programs are administered through state and community education agencies which usually supplement federal funding. Citizenship and Advocacy Roles
Older people began to assert themselves politically during the 1930s in support of old age income maintenance proposals. As the aging field has evolved, older people have extended their roles as members of the electorate, as members of organizations of older people, as advocates and lobbyists, political leaders, conference participants, and members of program advisory groups. Angus Campbell's (1960) revelation in 1960 that people in their 60s and 70s have a higher record of voting in national elections than do the members of every other age group is well known. Although voting drops off during the late years, it is reported that interest in local and national issues probably does not. A preliminary finding of a Quality of Life Study being conducted by the American Institute for Research (Flanagan, 1977), and focused on samples of older people is that citizenship activity is one of the 15 major components contributing to life satisfaction. Using participation as a measure of interest, Flanagan (1977) finds that three-fifths of both women and men at ages 50 and 70 state that they keep themselves informed of national and local issues, vote, and have an appreciation of political, social, and religious freedom. Virtually the same proportions indicate that their needs in this area are well or very well met. It is interesting that the significance of these roles rises from age 30.
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In the early 1930s, a million older people joined the national Townsend organization to support pension leaders and the Roosevelt administration in securing enactment of the Social Security legislation. Similar groups in several states were vigorous advocates of state pension legislation. Most of them faded from the scene, however, following passage of the Social Security Act, after establishment of the principle that concern and action in behalf of older people is a proper function of government, and upon the death of their charismatic leaders. In a penetrating analysis, Dale Vinyard (1978), recently reported that age-based advocacy groups were relatively quiescent during the 40s and 50s, and most of the 60s. Improvements in the Social Security program, legislation for housing and medical facilities for the elderly, for medical care payments, for the Older Americans Act, Vinyard adds, came largely in response to activities of coalitions of welfare organizations. Their efforts found favor with congressional leaders who were becoming aware of the needs of the increasing members of older people in the electorate. Older people, on the whole, were relatively passive observers, but groups were mobilized, from time-to-time, to demonstrate their existence and to plead for legislative relief. Large, permanent, membership organizations of older people appeared with the formation of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees, the National Retired Teachers Association, later joined by the American Association of Retired Persons, and the National Council of Senior Citizens. All serve as legislative advocates at the national level. Students have pointed out, however, that the current membership of these groups, some 14 million persons, have been recruited, in large part, through provision of opportunities to purchase discount drugs, insurance, and travel. They note, further, that leadership tends to be self-perpetuating, that elections are generally perfunctory with little membership participation, and that most members have little knowledge of who controls the organizations. Currently, however, there are indications that these organizations are becoming increasingly aware of their political potential and more concerned and sophisticated in their advocacy roles. The long moot question of whether or not older people will organize themselves into democratically controlled, participatory organizations based on common identi-
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fication of age and needs is receiving increasing attention. Some observers are coming around to Arnold Rose' (1965) position, that larger numbers of better educated, more articulate middle-aged and older people, increasingly aware of their organized strength and accorded recognition by administrative and legislative agencies, will result in the appearance of a large, effective organization or organizations as a major element in the structure of American society. It seems predictable that this will occur if demographic and economic circumstances result in leveling or reduction of benefits, facilities, and service programs which some observers see on the horizon. Rose made an interesting, additional point relevant to the thrust of this essay — namely that, as most severe needs are met, organizations of older people may give increasing attention to measures designed to increase life quality for the general population. A few examples of the scores of ways in which older adults are performing citizenship roles are cited in the following paragraphs. As a precursor to the 1971 White House Conference on Aging older people were invited to speak to their own circumstances in community forums arranged throughout the country. Over a million responded in several hundred forums conducted by themselves without participation of professionals. Their reports constituted significant input for White House Conference planners. Middle-aged and older members of the Congress are providing a good deal of support to the field of aging. In the 94th Congress, 317 members of the House of Representatives and 88 members of the Senate were 45 years of age or more; 50 and 24, respectively, were 65 or older. An older member, Senator Pat McNamara, and 78-year-old Congressman Claude Pepper were primarily responsible for establishing the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging and the House of Representatives Select Committee on Aging, both of which have been major forces i n the development of programs for older people. In Massachusetts, older people, under the determined leadership of retired Frank Manning, generated the pressure that resulted in the creation of the Department of Elder Affairs as a unit of the commonwealth's government. In a Minnesota county, members of the Board of County Commissioners, all 60 or over, have established a foundation for aging which operates an exemplary 120-place nonprofit nursing
The Gerontologist
home and a home-delivered meal program. Currently, the foundation is constructing 160 units of Sections 202/8 housing for older people and is developing a homemaker-home health aide program. In Washington, DC, older people lobbied successfully for reinstatement of Section 202 housing appropriations and, subsequently, picketed the Department of Housing and Urban Development when it procrastinated on the preparation of regulations to implement the program. Under authority of Older Americans Act amendments, Arthur Flemming as Commissioner on Aging directed establishment of an advisory committee for each of the nearly 600 Area Agencies on Aging and each of the 1,000 nutrition projects. Composed mainly of consumers of services provided through these agencies, the committees are embracing the opportunity to assist in guiding the programs to greater effectiveness. Conclusion Within the context of the purpose of the Donald P. Kent Award, I have undertaken to develop a commentary on the nature and origin of the negative attitudes toward, and stereotypes of, older people. And on current individual and societal behavior and value changes which show promise of invalidating them for at least the major part of future older adult generations. Thus, I have indicated that negative attitudes toward old age and the old, which have probably existed in most societies, became exacerbated in our own society during the transformation from a frontier to an urban, technological economy which placed its highest value on productive efficiency and fostered obsolescence of both machines and men. Contributing factors were the parallel, phenomenal rise in the number and proportion of older people and readiness to generalize from superficial observation of the prevalence of biological, behavioral, and social decrements among them. Currently, the positive concepts most older people have of themselves, the desires for continuing growth and participation, and the eagerness of increasing numbers to find fulfillment through broader, often contributory, social roles together with advancing knowledge of the persistence of physical and cognitive capacities are beginning to undermine some of the basic stereotypes.
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Fundamental to these developments is the emerging post-industrial transformation of the social economy. Quantitative values and measures of achievement supportive of and derived from the almost exclusively production-oriented economy are being complemented and supplanted by humanistic values and objectives. The transformed society will afford older adults greater freedom to choose among a wider range of societally recognized roles, increasing opportunity for growth and self-actualization, and for independence and autonomy. Older adults, within the matrix of the changing society, are leading the development of personal and societal expectations for those in the second-half or third-third of life. Anthropologist Solomon Katz (1978) has stated that with the "opening up and reevaluation of our attitudes toward the aged in the U.S. . .. will come the opportunity to make the transition toward a more mature appraisal of the real needs and potential contributions of this [older] segment of our society . .. [which] will improve the quality of life for the elderly in this country, as well as be helpful to other societies as they experience similar trends over the next century." Implicit in Professor Katz' observation and in the developments I have reviewed is a growing compatibility between the evolving aspirations of older adults and those of American society which can result only in a very considerable erosion of negative stereotypes.
References
Anonymous. The nation and its older people: Report of the White House Conference on Aging. USDHEW, Washington, DC, 1961. Anonymous. Toward a national policy on aging: 1971 White House Conference on Aging. Vol. 1. USDHEW, Washington, DC, 1973. Bevan, W. On growing old in America. Science, 1972, 177, 4052. Boaz, R. L. Participation in adult education: Final report, 1975. National Ctr. for Education Statistics, Washington, DC, 1975. Brody, E. M. The aging of the family. Annals: Planning for the Elderly, 1978,438, 13-27. Butler, R. N. Why survive? Being old in America. Harper & Row, New York, 1975. Campbell, A., Converse, P. E., Miller, W. E., & Stokes, D. E. The American voter. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1960. Federal Security Agency. Man and his years. Health Publications Inst, Raleigh, NC, 1951. Flanagan, J. C, & Russ-Eft, D. Identifying opportunities for improving the quality of life of older age groups: Progress reports. AoA, Washington, DC, 77.
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Florio, C. Collegiate programs for older adults: A summary report on a 7976 survey. Academy for Educational Development, New York, 1978. Gruman, G. J. Cultural origins of preserjt-day "age-ism": The modernization of the life cycle. In S. F. Spicker, K. M. Woodward & D. D. Van Tassel (Eds.), Aging and the elderly: Human perspectives in gerontology. Humanities Press, Atlantic Highlands, NJ, 1978. Harman, W. W. The coming transformation. Futurist, 1977, 11, 106-112. Harris, L, & Assoc, Inc. The myth and reality of aging in America. National Council on the Aging, Washington, DC, 1976. Hartford, M. E. The senior years: Working with older adults in American life. New England Gerontology Or., Durham, NH, 1973. Havighurst, R. J. Social change: The status, needs, and wants of the future elderly. In B. R. Herzog (Ed.), Aging and income. Human Services Press, New York, 1978. Heschel, A. J. The older person and the family in the perspective of Jewish tradition. In Aging with a future: Reports and guidelines from the White House Conference on Aging. USDHEW, Washington, DC, 1961. Kahn, H. The "emergent United States" . . . post-industrial society. In The management of information and knowledge. Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC, 1970. Katz, S. H. Anthropological perspectives on aging. Annals: Planning for the Elderly, 1978, 438, 1-12. Kent, D. P. Aging — Fact and fancy. Gerontologist, 1965, 2, 51-56, 111. Lipman, A. Resource utilization in community support systems. In W. C. Martin & A. J. E. Wilson (Eds.),
Aging and total health. Eckerd College Gerontology Ctr., St. Petersburg, FL, 1976. Maddox, G. L. Behavioral and social research. In Background and issues: Research and demonstration. 1971 White House Conference on Aging, Washington, DC, 1971. Neugarten, B. L. The aged in the year 2025. In Aging in America's future: 2023 AD, 2024 AD, 2025 AD. Hoechst-Roussel Pharmaceuticals, Somerville, NJ, 1976. Rose, A. M. Group consciousness among the aging. In A. M. Rose & W. A. Peterson (Eds.), Older people and their social world. F. A. Danises, Philadelphia, PA, 1965. Shanas, E., Townsend, P., Wedderburn, D., Friis, H., Milh0j, P., & Stehouwer, J. Old people in three industrial societies. Atherton Press, New York, 1968. Sheppard, H. L, & Rix, S. E. The graying of working America: The coming crisis of retirement-age policy. Free Press, New York, 1977. Simmons, L. Role of the aged in primitive society. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CT, 1945. Speirer, H. Major transitions in the human life cycle. Academy for Educational Development, New York, 1977. Steffi, B. M. Gerontology in professional and pre-professional curricula. In M. M. Selzer, H. Sterns, & T. Hickey (Eds.), Gerontology in higher education: Perspectives and issues. Wadsworth Publ. Co., Belmont, CA, 1978. U. S. Commission on Civil Rights. The age discrimination study. USGPO, Washington, DC, 1977. Vinyard, D. Rediscovery of the elderly. Society, 1978, 15, 24-29. Wilson, I. H. The new reformation: Changing values and institutional goals. Futurist, 1971, 3, 105-108.
Inflation Fighters for the Elderly A discerning Philadelphia Gerontologist points out the latest in benefits accruing to the elderly from the private sector as it seeks to attract "Graying America" to the marketplace: From an ad in The Bulletin (which nearly everyone in Philadelphia reads), December 20, 1978 — Phila's Largest Complete Adult Complex — APOLLO 4 X — Films Everyday Senior Citizens $1.00 off with ad1 'cf. Mason, J. B., & Beardon, W. O. Profiling the shopping behavior of elderly consumers. Gerontologist, 1978,18, 454-461.
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The Gerontologist
Can We Invalidate Negative Stereotypes of Aging?1 Clark Tibbitts: Introduction words of tribute to the one in whose memory I am pleased to have this opportunity to dis- this award was established. Don Kent was a cuss a facet of aging that has intrigued me ever scholarly and objective sociologist, at home since I entered what has shaped into a field about in both the university and a bureaucratic seta third of a century ago. My thesis is that over ting. His lead article in The Gerontologist for the past 30 to 40 years American society has June 1965 is entitled " A g i n g — Fact and Fancy." been transforming itself from one in which It was written first as a speech to admonish his older people were held in increasingly low colleagues in the network to substitute facts esteem and characterized by a multiplicity of for the stereotypes that were guiding the thinkderogative stereotypes to one in which the ing and action of many in the field. roles and styles of life of older adults will be viewed as positive and contributive to the qual- Stereotypes and Their Origins ity of life for themselves, for their communities, and for the total society. An older person thinks and moves slowly. He The transformation will move at a deliberate does not think as he used to or as creatively. He is pace because: (1) institutionalized negative bound to himself and to his past and can no longer concepts and values change slowly; (2) the change or grow. He can learn neither well nor deteriorations of advanced age and the prospect swiftly and, even if he could, he would not wish to. of final withdrawal will continueto be negatively Tied to his personal traditions and growing conservaheld; and (3) further extension of life and grow- tism, he dislikes innovations and is not disposed to ing numbers of aged will increase the prevalence new ideas. Not only can he not move forward, he of older adults who manifest circumstances often moves backward. He enters a second childwhich have given rise to negative stereotyping. hood, caught up in increasing egocentricity and demanding more from his environment than he is Over the foreseeable future at least, it will willing to give to it. Sometimes he becomes an be necessary to recognize two elements in the intensification of himself, a caricature of a lifelong older population: (1) the clear majority who are personality. He becomes irritable and cantankerous, healthy and as functional as they choose to be, yet shallow and enfeebled. He lives in his past; he thus to whom negative stereotypes are or will is behind the times. He is aimless and wandering of be inapplicable; and (2) those with varying mind, reminiscing and garrulous. Indeed, he is a degrees of physical, mental, and/or social dis- study in decline, the picture of mental and physical ability who display some characteristics that failure. He has lost and cannot replace friends, coincide with some elements of negative stereo- spouse, job, status, power, influence, income. He types. Today, increasing numbers of older is often stricken by diseases which, in turn, restrict people, researchers, and practitioners are re- his movement, his enjoyment of food, the pleasures of well-being. He has lost his desire and capacity jecting devaluation of the majority of those in for sex. His body shrinks, and so does the flow of the second group. blood to his brain. His mind does not utilize oxygen I should like to observe the tradition estab- and sugar at the same rate as formerly. Feeble, unlished by my predecessors and speak a few interesting, he awaits his death, a burden to society, to his family and to himself (Butler, 1975). 'Presented to the 31st Annual Scientific Meeting of The Gerontological Society, Dallas, TX, Nov. 17, 1978. 'Administration on Aging, U. S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Washington, DC 20201.
Most of you will recognize the paragraph, lifted from Why Survive? Being Old in America,
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The Gerontologist
and 40s had their origins largely in American experience around and following the turn of the century. In a chapter on "Cultural Origins of PresentDay Ageism," Gerald Gruman (1978) traces the beginning of modern ageism in the U.S. to the Modernist Transformation period following the close of the frontier in the 1890s. When the American goal shifted to the development of a strong, aggressive nation curbing weakness at home and conquering new territories abroad, adulthood, he says, came to be problematic, the elders to seem definitely inadequate, with the young looming as a raw but promising resource. Vigorously espousing this view, Theodore Roosevelt set about ridding the Navy of its senior officers, replacing them with young men of extraordinary energy, initiative, and willingness to accept responsibility. "Weaklings and those who feared hard work and war," he said, should "vanish from the earth." "In the 1890s and 1900s," Gruman notes, "it became standard practice for industry to shut out workers over the age of 40." Subsequently, when industry was recruiting workers from other countries, severe quotas were established limiting the entry of older persons. And, in the 1930s the second Roosevelt inveighed against the "nine old men" of the Supreme Court, proclaiming that "a lowered mental and physical vigor leads men to avoid examination of complicated and changed situations . . . older men . . . ceased to explore or inquire," and sought to revitalize the court with younger intellects. Sir William Osier (Gruman, 1978) comAccording to all the standards we employ socially as well as privately, the aged person is condemned plained of the comparative uselessness of men as inferior. In terms of manpower he is a liability, past 40 and of the absolute uselessness of men a burden, a drain on our resources. Conditioned to past 60. operate as a machine for making and spending Early negative stereotypes were reinforced money, with all other relationships dependent upon when the field began to develop. Steffi (1978) its efficiency, the moment the machine is out of order and beyond repair, one begins to feel like a ghost observed that "early research described charwithout a sense of reality . . . a person who does acteristics of. . .aged congregated in poor farms, not dream anymore, devoid of ambition, living in nursing homes, and state mental hospitals leadfear of losing his status. Regarding himself as a ing to a general picture of impaired elderly," person who has outlived his usefulness, he feels and "created pity and revulsion [which] ceras if he had to apologize for being alive (Heschel, tainly added to the development of negative 1961). attitudes toward the aged in our youth-oriented, production-oriented society." Much of what was said about the elderly Leo Simmons (1945) reported wide variations in attitudes toward older people in early cul- 30 years ago came from these studies and from tures, ranging from deification to abandonment. physicians and welfare workers whose elderly It appears likely, however, that the negative clients were mainly physically and socially stereotypes prevalent in this country in the 30s dependent and whose consequent testimony as Robert Butler's (1975) composite statement of stereotypes regarding the older segment of the population in the U.S. Although it is doubtless more comprehensive than a characterization that might have been written during the 1930s and 40s, I suggest that it describes the general view of older people held during that period. From my own recollection, stereotypes were evident in a variety of ways. The sharp rise in the prevalence of chronic diseases from middle age upward and general adherence to the view that they were inevitable and untreatable led to the widely held belief that aging and chronic disease were synonomous. The assumed cost-ineffectiveness of older workers resulted in a Depression unemployment rate three times that for younger workers. It became a major factor in creation of the Social Security program to support the large numbers of older workers it was said would never again qualify for participation in the labor force. Hundreds of forgetful, sometimes confused, or depressed older persons were being tagged as senile and committed to mental hospitals. County almshouses were overflowing with indigent older people presumed to be no longer useful to themselves or their communities. The belief that older people had little to offer to family or community led to invention of the concept of "roleless role." The early devaluation of older people persisted, leading Rabbi Heschel (1961) to tell delegates to the 1961 White House Conference on Aging that,
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the later years of life, and the right to live and die with dignity. In addition, the charter imposed responsibility on the older individual to remain active and alert, to maintain health and flexibility, to seek and develop potential avenues of service in the retirement years, and to share the benefits of his experience and knowledge. The charter became a public statement of goals when it was made the basis for Title I of the Older Americans Act of 1965, and was given nationKinship ties, maintenance of age-related traditions, wide reiteration during observances of the respect for knowledge and wisdom of the aged have Nation's Bicentennial Celebration. all been associated with high status for the elderly Although the 1960s witnessed the developand positive feelings about growing old. However, under modern conditions of rapid technological ment of numerous programs and facilities to change, rapid increases in the relative and absolute support the dependent elderly, the decade was numbers of the aged, and a general decline in ex- characterized also by provision of opportunitended kinship systems throughout most of the de- ties for fully functional older people, by efforts veloped and developing world, it is not surprising to identify new roles for the post-parental and to find, as one study did, that among attitudes con- post-work years, and by the growth of organizacerning the aged in Great Britain, Sweden, Greece, Japan, and Puerto Rico that there was a "ubiquitous- tions of older people. The 1971 White House Conference on Aging ness of the beliefs, transcending geography, education and cultural differences" which represented a recognized the increasing articulateness of predominant negative perception about the prospects older adults — 80% of the delegates were over of growing old regardless of culture (Katz, 1978). 45 years of age and 35% 65 and over — and gave strong emphasis to environmental conditions supportive of active participation, independence, and role choices (Anonymous, 1973). Positive Views of Older People The conference climate led also to mounting Notwithstanding the pervasiveness of these criticism of stereotypes and to positive attitudes derogatory views of older people, there were toward older people. Thus, in the conference some who expressed contrary views. One turnbackground paper on research Maddox (1971) ing point came with a report from the National Health Assembly of 1948 which advised the made the statement that "Behavioral and social Federal Security Administrator that old age and scientists... have demonstrated that the totally chronic disease are not synonomous and urged bleak picture of older people as inevitably alone, him to explore the broader range of the emergent lonely, disabled, impoverished, and incompephenomena of aging (Federal Security Agency, tent is a misleading caricature of the aged . . . " He went on to state that: "Older persons retain 1951), These recommendations led the Adminis- a capacity for learning which they demonstrate trator, Oscar Ewing, with President Truman's under conditions which do not stress speed of support, to call the 1950 National Conference response or arouse undue anxiety. Moreover, on Aging. Conferees urged that "society free institutionalized older persons without severe itself from the traditional prejudices against organic brain damage can and do respond posiold age and launch . . . a campaign to accent tively to enriched opportunities in the environthe positive characteristics of the aging for con- ment. Similarly, industrial gerontologists have tinued occupational usefulness, citizenship, consistently demonstrated that older workers and family life" (Federal Security Agency, can perform common tasks at work much better than popular stereotypes would suggest." 1951). Delegates to one section of the 1961 White A few years later Aaron Lipman (1976) made House Conference on Aging developed a Senior a similar statement: "although a sizeable perCitizens Charter (Anonymous, 1961) which centage of older people suffer from poverty, called for measures to relieve the plight of the illness, and social isolation, the majority of disadvantaged elderly but also emphasized older people are not poverty stricken, socially the right of all older people to usefulness, in- isolated, rejected by their children or institudependence, access to knowledge to improve tionalized. While the needy among the aged are certainly hardened the view of aging as irreversible loss. Negative concepts were perpetuated and spread, of course, when program agencies and welfare-oriented organizations began to plead with the Congress for meliorative legislation in behalf of the impaired, deprived, dependent elderly. Summing up with a somewhat broader perspective, Solomon Katz (1978) stated that:
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The Gerontologist
more numerous than the needy among the young, they are a numerical minority . . . of the total aged cohort." Butler (1975) stated that "As in all cliches, stereotypes, and myths there are bits of truth. But many of the current views of old age represent confusions, misunderstandings or simply a lack of knowledge .. . others may be completely inaccurate or biased, reflecting prejudice or outright hostility." He went on to state that older people tend to remain productive and involved, that the alleged mutual withdrawal of society and the older person is not a universal part of the aging experience, that older people living in the community are flexible and responsive to innovation and change, that the term senility is inappropriately used to categorize treatable conditions that have little or no relationship to brain damage, and that much of the al leged serenity of older persons is a myth. In light of such observations, there have been increasingly persistent calls for a sharp change in attitudes. Thus, William Bevan (1972) writing in Science said, "The key in the problems of aging is not natural resources or the know-how of the medical and behavioral sciences. It is a fundamental change in attitude." He added that "behavioral scientists would serve society well in their role of citizen if they found ways to facilitate the change." In 1977, Howard Speirer, reporting on a conference on Major Transitions in the Human Life Cycle, cites Baltes and Schaie to the effect that "the failure . . . of older people to perform as well [as younger people] in the cognitive domain is not due to inherent incompetencies, but largely to deficiencies in their environment." Robert Aldrich is cited to the effect that "The importance of environmental influences suggests an approach to the life cycle that focuses on culture, values, and attitudes — and the implications these have for the quality of life and public policy. Particularly germane is the negative attitude .. . toward the elderly acquired in childhood and reinforced throughout society . . . which . . . contributes to the rate of aging of many individuals." "What our new value system dictates," said the conference "[is] the need for new roles for the elderly, expanded support systems, new relationships between education, work, and leisure, opportunities for older Americans to continue their education, pursue hobbies, and participate in athletics need to be expanded" (Speirer, 1977).
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Positive Roles for Older Adults in a Maturing Society
Recognition of current and evolving roles of older adults may be viewed as a manifestation of the changing structure, values, and attitudes of post-industrial American society. Several years ago, British futurist Ian Wilson (1971) articulated the position that the social economy of the U.S. has entered a period he called The New Reformation. His basic point was that, having virtually achieved the goal of meeting physiological requirements for survival, America's emergent challenge is that of enhancing the qualitative sector of individual and public aspirations and expectations. Wilson identified several changes taking place in American culture, as follows: • Importance of the work ethic is receding; leisure activities are gaining validity in their own right. • With independence and satisfaction of material needs assured, Americans are moving toward interdependence and meeting public needs. • Primacy of technical efficiency is making way for considerations of social justice and equity. • Dictates of organizational convenience are making room for aspirations of self-development of organization members. • Authoritarianism is yielding to participation in decision making. • Uniformity and centralization are being supplanted by pluralism and diversity. • Preservation of system status quo and routine is being rejected in favor of promotion and acceptance of change with increasing opportunity for growth, self-actualization, and realization of one's full range of potential. Wilson's position is reinforced in greater or lesser degree by such observers as Herman Kahn (1970), Solomon Katz (1978), Gerald Gruman (1978), Willis Harman (1977), and, of course, Neugarten (1976) and Havighurst (1978). These societal redirections have particular significance for middle-aged and older adults many of whom have been pioneering in search of opportunities for intellectual growth, expanded role performance, life satisfaction, sense of usefulness, achievement, and fulfillment. Although sizeable proportions of the elderly population are handicapped, as noted, by low
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income, mental and physical disabilities, educational poverty, and paucity of positive societal expectations, growing numbers of them, too, are finding their way into satisfying roles on their own initiative or in response to societal encouragement. Later life-styles are being developed through such options, differentially available of course, as continued paid employment, voluntary service, citizenship and political activities, kinship services, education, and socialization and recreation. Involvement in several of these roles will be cited as evidence of the efforts of successive generations of older adults to enhance the quality of their own lives, and, for many, the lives of their fellow citizens. The Work Role The degree of commitment of older adults to the work role and the extent of society's commitment to providing work opportunities are dynamic, complex matters difficult to assess. Successive cohorts of middle-aged and older adults are living longer and enjoying Monger periods of health and vigor. The majority of their members retain work skills or could be retrained if necessary. On the other hand, both older adults and society are responding to technological achievements and changing values which free the majority of older, and rising proportions of middleaged, adults from work and work expectations. Work force participation of older men has declined dramatically over the past century — from more than two-thirds to about one-sixth. Nevertheless, gainful employment has positive value for significant numbers of older men and for markedly increasing proportions of middle-aged and even older women. Today, 2.9 million men and women 65 and over report themselves, at any one time, as employed or seeking work. The overall labor force participation rate is 12% of the 65-plus population, 17% for males and 9% for females. Only onefourth of the employed work full-time (Harris & Associates, 1976). The principal considerations that keep workers in the labor force beyond what has been the conventional retirement eligibility age are: need for income, exacerbated now by inflation; desire to feel useful and command societal respect through contributory activity; intrinsic satisfaction with one's particular work role; a significant activity around which to or-
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ganize one's life; and fear of retirement without a clear role. More than 19 million older people are not in the employed labor force. This large and growing number is comprised of women who have not entered the work force, voluntary retirees, unemployed labor force members, and those retired involuntarily by reason of job obsolescense, declining performance capacity, and employer retirement policies. The 1974 Harris Survey (Harris & Associates, 1976), however, turned up 4 million, 20% of the 19-plus millions, who said they would like to work. Fifteen percent (3 million) indicated interest in participating in a job training program that would help them re-enter the employed group. It should be observed, however, that, when people were questioned more closely, only 11% stated that they would seriously consider taking a job if it were offered; an additional 9% that they would possibly consider returning to work. Whatever the number of employment candidates may be, the fact that they are not employed indicates quite clearly that the stereotyped devaluation of older workers persists among employers, in spite of a very considerable amount of contradictory research over the past 30 years. As we all know, it has been reported repeatedly that the majority of employed older workers are as efficient and productive as younger workers, can be trained for new jobs as readily, and have fewer accidents and less absenteeism. When Harris Survey field workers interviewed persons having hiring and firing responsibility, they found that 52% rated older workers as satisfactory as they were when they were younger. On the other hand, 87% reported that employers do discriminate against older workers. And evidence suggests that one in five to two in five older workers leave the labor force because of an arbitrary mandatory age retirement policy (Harris & Associates, 1976). In spite of the persistence of negative work stereotypes, there is evidence that society as a whole is no longer as accepting of them as it appears to have been two or three decades ago. Thus, public policy is moving definitively to attack the concept of older worker redundancy and to facilitate the efforts of those who wish to remain part of the employed labor force to do so. Evidence is found in: • Repeated liberalization of the Social Security retirement test to enable older workers to
The Gerontologist
•
• •
•
•
augment their incomes through part-time work. A recent amendment to the act which calls for increasing the retirement benefit by 3% for each year a worker remains employed after age 65. The Anti-Age Discrimination Act of 1967 prohibiting age discrimination in hiring and firing of workers between ages 40 and 64. The recent mandatory retirement legislation which prohibits consideration of age as a criterion for retirement before age 70 in the private sector and eliminates the upper limit in federal employment. The CETA program, Title IX of the Older Americans Act, and CSA's Senior Services and Opportunities programs designed to afford work experience and training that enables older workers to find re-employment in regular jobs. The Age Discrimination Study, in which the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights made forthright recommendations for abandonment of discrimination on the basis of age in all federally assisted programs including those in the fields of rehabilitation, training, employment, and job finding and referral (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1977).
Change in societal attitudes may be reinforced by other developments becoming clearly visible. Currently, there is rising concern, as Sheppard (1977), eloquently notes, over the increasing costs of retirement income systems resulting from early retirement and longer, later life expectancy. Among measures being discussed for extending the work-life period, and thereby reducing the benefit period, are elimination of inducements to early retirement and raising the pension eligibility age. A second concern arises from recent fluctuations in fertility rates and in declining older age mortality rates. Though extended forecasts are generally uncertain, it appears more than likely that, fairly early in the next century, there will be a dearth of younger and middleaged workers to sustain the productive economy. And, almost a certainty that the increasing burden of supporting the retired population will overtax the financial capacities or willingness of the young and middle adult populations upon whom the responsibility will lie. This development, too, may be partially offset by extending the period of working life.
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If the foregoing analysis were extended to include the large and growing number of middle-aged (40 to 64 years of age) workers who have retired and of those who would prefer to work, the results would be similar to those reported above. Thus, it appears there is ample reason for at least the tentative conclusion that a need for manpower and for longer worklife periods coupled with persistent inflation and a leveling of productive output will lead to a positive evaluation of the older worker. The Volunteer Role Among persons in the later stages of life, interest in volunteer service appears to be rising almost as rapidly as commitment to the work role has been falling off. Traditionally an activity attractive particularly to young and middleaged adults, voluntary service is now attracting both youth and those of retirement age. Twenty-two percent of those age 65 and upward report doing volunteer work on an organized basis. An additional 10% indicated that they would welcome an opportunity (Harris & Associates, 1976). Margaret Hartford (1973), has reported that the voluntary service role is especially appealing to those whose parental and work roles are tapering off or completed. Challenging volunteer activity, she writes, yields personal satisfaction from knowing that one is helping to improve community life and the environment, preserves positive self-image as other societal expectations and responsibilities fade, and affords opportunity for continuing social involvement. Additionally, volunteers may derive satisfaction from knowing that they are measuring up to the positive beliefs of 80% of the American public who subscribe to the Harris poll statement that "voluntary service is essential to meet the community's needs and that everyone should do his share." Ninety-four percent of those polled are of the opinion that older people have skills for voluntary service and 80% that older people make good volunteers (Harris & Associates, 1976). There seems to be virtually no field of activity that does not offer opportunities for voluntary service or in which older people are not engaged. Of particular significance for their focus on involving older people are: the National Network on Aging, which mandates utilization of older people in the Nursing Home Ombudsman Program, the National Nutrition Program,
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and in all senior center and social service projects; ACTION'S FGP, RSVP, Senior Companion, VISTA, and Peace Corps programs; the Legal Service Corporation's use of older adults as para-legals; the Small Business Administration's SCORE; and the long-standing utilization of older adult volunteers by the Veterans Administration. Project SERVE, launched in New York City, enrolls 7,000 older people in the area for numerous activities matched to the interests of the volunteers. Utilization of older adults as teacher aides has become so widespread as to warrant establishment of a National Volunteer School Program. The National Center for Voluntary Action gives particular attention to the capacities of older adults for volunteer service. Numerous organizations at national, state, and community levels have been created to promote volunteerism, elevate the dignity of volunteer work, stimulate training, and urge recognition of worker performance and contribution. Federal interest in promoting volunteerism has led to a new category of workers: paid volunteers. Payment at the minimum wage for part-time volunteer work, reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenditures, and other forms of compensation are designed to encourage the participation of low-income older persons. The new category and other developments may result in obscuring the line between paid and voluntary work. The future is likely to bring further recognition to the work of the volunteers. Concern is being expressed over whether communities will be able to afford the expansion of services including the major expansion already resulting from the rapidly growing numbers of upper-aged persons. California's Governor Brown has stated that tax reductions will have to be offset, in part, by increased willingness of citizens to volunteer their services to community programs. Clearly, volunteer service represents a major area through which older adults may help to turn around widely held negative opinions of their potential usefulness.
Family Roles Shanas et al. (1968), have demonstrated that kinship ties remain viable through the adult years as revealed through expressions of affection and a variety of mutual intergenerational exchanges. Thus, most older adults find useful,
satisfying roles in contributing to the development and well-being of adult children and grandchildren. One contribution most older parents make is that of maintaining their own households as long as their circumstances permit, thereby retaining their autonomy and enabling the younger family to develop and pursue its own aspirations, including building resources for its own retirement years. Thus, in 1978, only 16% of those 65 years and over share a household with an adult child. In approximately onehalf of these shared situations, the older parent provides the home, frequently affording a refuge for an adult child during a crisis period or taking in one or more grandchildren. A paragraph from The Myth and Reality of Aging in America (Harris & Associates, 1976) succinctly describes the importance of a variety of contributions made by the older parent generation. In economic terms, the contribution that older people make to younger members of their family is substantial. In part, this contribution takes the form of gifts and money offered by older parents and grandparents to their offspring. In addition, however, the services performed by older people for their children and grandchildren represent substantial monetary savings for the young. As nurses for the ill, as repairers, and housekeepers, even as surrogate parents, the public 65 and over offer assistance to their children and grandchildren that would cost them dearly otherwise. Without the free services of older family members, the young would either have to resort to hiring outside help to perform these same tasks or, more likely, sacrifice some of their own income by taking time off from jobs to perform these same tasks themselves. There is a critical, even indispensable role that older people play in the lives of their children or grandchildren which is largely taken for granted today.
Increasing longevity, with its associated physical, mental, and social impairments in the late years, appears to be leading to another role for the younger, retired generation — that of providing a home and care for aged parents. Elaine Brody (1978) reports that half a million persons 65 and over now live in a household containing two older generations. And adds that women in their 50s and 60s are the principal caregivers. There is some indication that public policy may be moving toward an expectation that the young-old generation will become the caretakers of the old-old. A major issue may
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The Gerontologist
be in the near offing: will middle-aged people, conditioned to look forward to freedom from responsibility in the post-parental and retirement years, be urged to take on a new responsibility instead? Some countries are now offering financial and supporting services to older adults willing to do so. The Learner Role
The learner role is attracting growing proportions of older adults as it becomes increasingly recognized that continuing education is essential to meeting the demands and aspirations of longer life. This year, nearly 3.0 million middleaged (40 to 64 years) and 400,000 older (65plus) persons are enrolled for adult education. The proportions have increased more than 10% within the last decade. Recent surveys (Boaz, 1975; Florio, 1978) reveal that these older learners have enrolled for an aggregate of 900 different courses. Objectives of the courses have been to assist enrol lees to cope with the circumstances of later life living, to afford intellectual experience, to teach expressive skills, and to enhance capacity for performance in contributive, citizenship, and advocacy roles. Particularly impressive are the data on enrollment: 38% elected academic courses largely in the humanities; 36% hobby and recreation courses, and 22% information and consumer education courses. Although educational institutions are helping older adults develop new work skills, the proportions taking vocational courses falls off with age (Florio, 1978). Institutions of higher education are rapidly abandoning earlier stereotypes and recognizing that the new age groups coming to them have relatively undiminished capacity for learning and creativity. In 1976, 816 post-secondary institutions were extending opportunities for auditing or enrolling in regular classes, for electing courses designed to be of particular interest to older students, or for enrolling in programs specifically for older adults distinct from regular or continuing education programs (Florio, 1978). The spreading Elderhostel, advertised as a vacation-learning experience, seems to be valued by some older students primarily for the intellectual stimulation and knowledge growth provided. Scores of collegiate institutions, threatened with diminishing enrollments, are seeking to attract older adults by offering on-campus liv-
Vol. 19, No. 1,1979
ing, preparatory courses and tutoring, health services, counseling, and social and recreational opportunities. Institutions are reaching out to older adults by taking their offerings to senior centers, churches, and housing developments. Many are flouting the stereotype of loss of teaching competency by employing emeritus faculty and other retired persons as teachers, tutors, and program administrators. In a number of places, older adults are organizing their own educational programs after the manner of New York's Institute of Retired Professionals. Public agencies at federal, state, and community levels have been responding with growing support to the interests of older adults and to the educational institutions serving them. The Departments of Agriculture, Health, Education, and Welfare, and Labor foster education for older adults. Most of the programs are administered through state and community education agencies which usually supplement federal funding. Citizenship and Advocacy Roles
Older people began to assert themselves politically during the 1930s in support of old age income maintenance proposals. As the aging field has evolved, older people have extended their roles as members of the electorate, as members of organizations of older people, as advocates and lobbyists, political leaders, conference participants, and members of program advisory groups. Angus Campbell's (1960) revelation in 1960 that people in their 60s and 70s have a higher record of voting in national elections than do the members of every other age group is well known. Although voting drops off during the late years, it is reported that interest in local and national issues probably does not. A preliminary finding of a Quality of Life Study being conducted by the American Institute for Research (Flanagan, 1977), and focused on samples of older people is that citizenship activity is one of the 15 major components contributing to life satisfaction. Using participation as a measure of interest, Flanagan (1977) finds that three-fifths of both women and men at ages 50 and 70 state that they keep themselves informed of national and local issues, vote, and have an appreciation of political, social, and religious freedom. Virtually the same proportions indicate that their needs in this area are well or very well met. It is interesting that the significance of these roles rises from age 30.
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In the early 1930s, a million older people joined the national Townsend organization to support pension leaders and the Roosevelt administration in securing enactment of the Social Security legislation. Similar groups in several states were vigorous advocates of state pension legislation. Most of them faded from the scene, however, following passage of the Social Security Act, after establishment of the principle that concern and action in behalf of older people is a proper function of government, and upon the death of their charismatic leaders. In a penetrating analysis, Dale Vinyard (1978), recently reported that age-based advocacy groups were relatively quiescent during the 40s and 50s, and most of the 60s. Improvements in the Social Security program, legislation for housing and medical facilities for the elderly, for medical care payments, for the Older Americans Act, Vinyard adds, came largely in response to activities of coalitions of welfare organizations. Their efforts found favor with congressional leaders who were becoming aware of the needs of the increasing members of older people in the electorate. Older people, on the whole, were relatively passive observers, but groups were mobilized, from time-to-time, to demonstrate their existence and to plead for legislative relief. Large, permanent, membership organizations of older people appeared with the formation of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees, the National Retired Teachers Association, later joined by the American Association of Retired Persons, and the National Council of Senior Citizens. All serve as legislative advocates at the national level. Students have pointed out, however, that the current membership of these groups, some 14 million persons, have been recruited, in large part, through provision of opportunities to purchase discount drugs, insurance, and travel. They note, further, that leadership tends to be self-perpetuating, that elections are generally perfunctory with little membership participation, and that most members have little knowledge of who controls the organizations. Currently, however, there are indications that these organizations are becoming increasingly aware of their political potential and more concerned and sophisticated in their advocacy roles. The long moot question of whether or not older people will organize themselves into democratically controlled, participatory organizations based on common identi-
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fication of age and needs is receiving increasing attention. Some observers are coming around to Arnold Rose' (1965) position, that larger numbers of better educated, more articulate middle-aged and older people, increasingly aware of their organized strength and accorded recognition by administrative and legislative agencies, will result in the appearance of a large, effective organization or organizations as a major element in the structure of American society. It seems predictable that this will occur if demographic and economic circumstances result in leveling or reduction of benefits, facilities, and service programs which some observers see on the horizon. Rose made an interesting, additional point relevant to the thrust of this essay — namely that, as most severe needs are met, organizations of older people may give increasing attention to measures designed to increase life quality for the general population. A few examples of the scores of ways in which older adults are performing citizenship roles are cited in the following paragraphs. As a precursor to the 1971 White House Conference on Aging older people were invited to speak to their own circumstances in community forums arranged throughout the country. Over a million responded in several hundred forums conducted by themselves without participation of professionals. Their reports constituted significant input for White House Conference planners. Middle-aged and older members of the Congress are providing a good deal of support to the field of aging. In the 94th Congress, 317 members of the House of Representatives and 88 members of the Senate were 45 years of age or more; 50 and 24, respectively, were 65 or older. An older member, Senator Pat McNamara, and 78-year-old Congressman Claude Pepper were primarily responsible for establishing the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging and the House of Representatives Select Committee on Aging, both of which have been major forces i n the development of programs for older people. In Massachusetts, older people, under the determined leadership of retired Frank Manning, generated the pressure that resulted in the creation of the Department of Elder Affairs as a unit of the commonwealth's government. In a Minnesota county, members of the Board of County Commissioners, all 60 or over, have established a foundation for aging which operates an exemplary 120-place nonprofit nursing
The Gerontologist
home and a home-delivered meal program. Currently, the foundation is constructing 160 units of Sections 202/8 housing for older people and is developing a homemaker-home health aide program. In Washington, DC, older people lobbied successfully for reinstatement of Section 202 housing appropriations and, subsequently, picketed the Department of Housing and Urban Development when it procrastinated on the preparation of regulations to implement the program. Under authority of Older Americans Act amendments, Arthur Flemming as Commissioner on Aging directed establishment of an advisory committee for each of the nearly 600 Area Agencies on Aging and each of the 1,000 nutrition projects. Composed mainly of consumers of services provided through these agencies, the committees are embracing the opportunity to assist in guiding the programs to greater effectiveness. Conclusion Within the context of the purpose of the Donald P. Kent Award, I have undertaken to develop a commentary on the nature and origin of the negative attitudes toward, and stereotypes of, older people. And on current individual and societal behavior and value changes which show promise of invalidating them for at least the major part of future older adult generations. Thus, I have indicated that negative attitudes toward old age and the old, which have probably existed in most societies, became exacerbated in our own society during the transformation from a frontier to an urban, technological economy which placed its highest value on productive efficiency and fostered obsolescence of both machines and men. Contributing factors were the parallel, phenomenal rise in the number and proportion of older people and readiness to generalize from superficial observation of the prevalence of biological, behavioral, and social decrements among them. Currently, the positive concepts most older people have of themselves, the desires for continuing growth and participation, and the eagerness of increasing numbers to find fulfillment through broader, often contributory, social roles together with advancing knowledge of the persistence of physical and cognitive capacities are beginning to undermine some of the basic stereotypes.
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Fundamental to these developments is the emerging post-industrial transformation of the social economy. Quantitative values and measures of achievement supportive of and derived from the almost exclusively production-oriented economy are being complemented and supplanted by humanistic values and objectives. The transformed society will afford older adults greater freedom to choose among a wider range of societally recognized roles, increasing opportunity for growth and self-actualization, and for independence and autonomy. Older adults, within the matrix of the changing society, are leading the development of personal and societal expectations for those in the second-half or third-third of life. Anthropologist Solomon Katz (1978) has stated that with the "opening up and reevaluation of our attitudes toward the aged in the U.S. . .. will come the opportunity to make the transition toward a more mature appraisal of the real needs and potential contributions of this [older] segment of our society . .. [which] will improve the quality of life for the elderly in this country, as well as be helpful to other societies as they experience similar trends over the next century." Implicit in Professor Katz' observation and in the developments I have reviewed is a growing compatibility between the evolving aspirations of older adults and those of American society which can result only in a very considerable erosion of negative stereotypes.
References
Anonymous. The nation and its older people: Report of the White House Conference on Aging. USDHEW, Washington, DC, 1961. Anonymous. Toward a national policy on aging: 1971 White House Conference on Aging. Vol. 1. USDHEW, Washington, DC, 1973. Bevan, W. On growing old in America. Science, 1972, 177, 4052. Boaz, R. L. Participation in adult education: Final report, 1975. National Ctr. for Education Statistics, Washington, DC, 1975. Brody, E. M. The aging of the family. Annals: Planning for the Elderly, 1978,438, 13-27. Butler, R. N. Why survive? Being old in America. Harper & Row, New York, 1975. Campbell, A., Converse, P. E., Miller, W. E., & Stokes, D. E. The American voter. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1960. Federal Security Agency. Man and his years. Health Publications Inst, Raleigh, NC, 1951. Flanagan, J. C, & Russ-Eft, D. Identifying opportunities for improving the quality of life of older age groups: Progress reports. AoA, Washington, DC, 77.
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Florio, C. Collegiate programs for older adults: A summary report on a 7976 survey. Academy for Educational Development, New York, 1978. Gruman, G. J. Cultural origins of preserjt-day "age-ism": The modernization of the life cycle. In S. F. Spicker, K. M. Woodward & D. D. Van Tassel (Eds.), Aging and the elderly: Human perspectives in gerontology. Humanities Press, Atlantic Highlands, NJ, 1978. Harman, W. W. The coming transformation. Futurist, 1977, 11, 106-112. Harris, L, & Assoc, Inc. The myth and reality of aging in America. National Council on the Aging, Washington, DC, 1976. Hartford, M. E. The senior years: Working with older adults in American life. New England Gerontology Or., Durham, NH, 1973. Havighurst, R. J. Social change: The status, needs, and wants of the future elderly. In B. R. Herzog (Ed.), Aging and income. Human Services Press, New York, 1978. Heschel, A. J. The older person and the family in the perspective of Jewish tradition. In Aging with a future: Reports and guidelines from the White House Conference on Aging. USDHEW, Washington, DC, 1961. Kahn, H. The "emergent United States" . . . post-industrial society. In The management of information and knowledge. Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC, 1970. Katz, S. H. Anthropological perspectives on aging. Annals: Planning for the Elderly, 1978, 438, 1-12. Kent, D. P. Aging — Fact and fancy. Gerontologist, 1965, 2, 51-56, 111. Lipman, A. Resource utilization in community support systems. In W. C. Martin & A. J. E. Wilson (Eds.),
Aging and total health. Eckerd College Gerontology Ctr., St. Petersburg, FL, 1976. Maddox, G. L. Behavioral and social research. In Background and issues: Research and demonstration. 1971 White House Conference on Aging, Washington, DC, 1971. Neugarten, B. L. The aged in the year 2025. In Aging in America's future: 2023 AD, 2024 AD, 2025 AD. Hoechst-Roussel Pharmaceuticals, Somerville, NJ, 1976. Rose, A. M. Group consciousness among the aging. In A. M. Rose & W. A. Peterson (Eds.), Older people and their social world. F. A. Danises, Philadelphia, PA, 1965. Shanas, E., Townsend, P., Wedderburn, D., Friis, H., Milh0j, P., & Stehouwer, J. Old people in three industrial societies. Atherton Press, New York, 1968. Sheppard, H. L, & Rix, S. E. The graying of working America: The coming crisis of retirement-age policy. Free Press, New York, 1977. Simmons, L. Role of the aged in primitive society. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CT, 1945. Speirer, H. Major transitions in the human life cycle. Academy for Educational Development, New York, 1977. Steffi, B. M. Gerontology in professional and pre-professional curricula. In M. M. Selzer, H. Sterns, & T. Hickey (Eds.), Gerontology in higher education: Perspectives and issues. Wadsworth Publ. Co., Belmont, CA, 1978. U. S. Commission on Civil Rights. The age discrimination study. USGPO, Washington, DC, 1977. Vinyard, D. Rediscovery of the elderly. Society, 1978, 15, 24-29. Wilson, I. H. The new reformation: Changing values and institutional goals. Futurist, 1971, 3, 105-108.
Inflation Fighters for the Elderly A discerning Philadelphia Gerontologist points out the latest in benefits accruing to the elderly from the private sector as it seeks to attract "Graying America" to the marketplace: From an ad in The Bulletin (which nearly everyone in Philadelphia reads), December 20, 1978 — Phila's Largest Complete Adult Complex — APOLLO 4 X — Films Everyday Senior Citizens $1.00 off with ad1 'cf. Mason, J. B., & Beardon, W. O. Profiling the shopping behavior of elderly consumers. Gerontologist, 1978,18, 454-461.
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The Gerontologist
