TY - JOUR
T1 - Prioritizing Health Care and Employment Resources during COVID-19
T2 - Roles of Benevolent and Hostile Ageism
AU - Apriceno, Marybeth
AU - Lytle, Ashley
AU - Monahan, Caitlin
AU - Macdonald, Jamie
AU - Levy, Sheri R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/2/1
Y1 - 2021/2/1
N2 - Background and Objectives: Benevolent and hostile ageism are subtypes of ageism that characterize older adults as incompetent. With benevolent ageism, older adults are also viewed as warm. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has strained resources and prompted debates about priority for older adults versus other groups. Research Design and Methods: College students completed an online survey of how much priority should be given to older adults in 3 relevant health care-related scenarios and 3 relevant employment scenarios. Results: Benevolent ageism significantly predicted higher priority for older adults to receive health care (triage, COVID-19 vaccine, and COVID-19 testing) and employment resources (retention of job and working from home) while greater endorsement of hostile ageism significantly predicted lower priority ratings. Discussion and Implications: These findings replicate and extend past work. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on health care and employment resources, this study sheds light on one factor - benevolent and hostile ageism - that contributes to a greater understanding of prioritization views toward a vulnerable segment of the population.
AB - Background and Objectives: Benevolent and hostile ageism are subtypes of ageism that characterize older adults as incompetent. With benevolent ageism, older adults are also viewed as warm. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has strained resources and prompted debates about priority for older adults versus other groups. Research Design and Methods: College students completed an online survey of how much priority should be given to older adults in 3 relevant health care-related scenarios and 3 relevant employment scenarios. Results: Benevolent ageism significantly predicted higher priority for older adults to receive health care (triage, COVID-19 vaccine, and COVID-19 testing) and employment resources (retention of job and working from home) while greater endorsement of hostile ageism significantly predicted lower priority ratings. Discussion and Implications: These findings replicate and extend past work. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on health care and employment resources, this study sheds light on one factor - benevolent and hostile ageism - that contributes to a greater understanding of prioritization views toward a vulnerable segment of the population.
KW - Attitudes and perceptions toward aging/aged
KW - Intergenerational tension
KW - Stereotypes
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U2 - 10.1093/geront/gnaa165
DO - 10.1093/geront/gnaa165
M3 - Article
C2 - 33119089
AN - SCOPUS:85100280679
SN - 0016-9013
VL - 61
SP - 98
EP - 102
JO - Gerontologist
JF - Gerontologist
IS - 1
ER -