| Ageism continues to be a widespread problem and is of increasing concern given the growing older population worldwide and youth-centered focus of many societies. Despite the need for a better understanding of attitudes towards older adults, ageism is a relatively understudied area of social psychology. This dissertation sought, for the first time, to compare two theoretical approaches to addressing ageism: education about aging (providing accurate information about aging) and extended contact (knowledge of positive intergenerational contact) as well as their potential combined impact (education plus extended contact). Across two studies, participants were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions: education, extended contact, combined condition, and a control condition. As expected, in Study 1, participants (community adults ages 18-59) in all three experimental conditions (vs. participants in the control condition) reported decreased negative attitudes toward older adults and increased aging knowledge immediately after the study. Building upon the design of Study 1, in Study 2, attitudes toward older adults were assessed before, immediately after the conditions, and in a delayed post-test. In Study 2, participants (undergraduate students) in all three experimental conditions (vs. participants in the control condition) reported decreased negative attitudes toward older adults as well as increased aging knowledge. Generally speaking, the three experimental conditions did not differ from one another pointing to the efficacy of the theoretical background underlying each experimental condition. Overall, these findings point to the effectiveness of a brief online intervention in reducing ageist attitudes among age-diverse adult community members as well as undergraduate students. Implications and future directions are discussed. |
