Aging & Social Change: Fourteenth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

Global concerns over ageism were raised after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, with age-based public health policies heightening intergenerational tension. To gather empirical evidence about those concerns, this study examined younger adults’ ageism after the pandemic, focusing on the relationships between younger adults’ beliefs around public health policies, sources from which they received COVID-19 information, and the intensity of their ageism. Survey data were collected in 2021 from individuals who were ages 18 to 44 and were living in the United States. The Ambivalent Ageism Scale, a standardized instrument developed to measure both hostile and benevolent ageism, was adopted for measuring younger adults’ ageism. A total of 317 survey responses were analyzed, using multiple hierarchical regression analysis. The results show that benevolent ageism was more intense than hostile ageism and that younger adults’ beliefs about safety measures (e.g., “Safety measures were implemented mostly because the older population was vulnerable to COVID-19.”) and the prioritization of medical resources (e.g., “Prioritizing the older population over other age groups is the right thing to do in distributing medical resources.”) were significantly associated with the intensity of their ageism. In addition, those who receiving COVID-19 information via traditional media and social media were likely to show more intense ageism than those who relied on scientific journals or authorities for public health information. With these findings, this study enhances our knowledge of ageism in the post-pandemic era and sheds light on future directions - the need for making efforts to combat ageism in times of crisis.