Exploring children's attitudes towards old people and ageing

Ana Godec (2021) Exploring children's attitudes towards old people and ageing. MSc thesis.

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Abstract

The population of the elderly will widely increase in the coming decades, so establishing a positive attitude towards the elderly and ageing is of great importance for intergenerational understanding and quality of life in later years. The children attitude towards the elderly and ageing largely depends on what kind of attitude children develop in the early years of their lives. In the empirical part, we investigated how certain factors affect a child's attitude towards the elderly and ageing. The sample included 451 children from all over Slovenia aged 9 to 13 years. We performed data analysis with the Orange tool. With the help of machine learning models, we determined which variables have the highest influence on the attitude towards the elderly and ageing. In the research, we found that children's attitudes towards the elderly and ageing are on average positive, but they largely depend on how we ask questions, what is their attitude towards close older family members, how much active time they spend with them, what is their knowledge of ageing and many other factors. The findings can help to develop strategies for better intergenerational integration and the reduction of negative age stereotypes. These have an impact directly on older individuals as well as indirectly on the attitude towards children own ageing and the quality of life in old age.

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