Benevolent and hostile ageism: two forms of prejudice and corresponding individual differences

What is it about?

Is over-protection of older people because of their hypothetical cognitive, physical, and psychological difficulties a caring and respectful attitude or does it constitute (subtle) prejudice? We found that the above attitude, called benevolent ageism, is associated with psychological characteristics also present in hostile ageism and other forms of prejudice (racism, sexual prejudice, sexism) such as authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and low belief flexibility. However, it is an ambivalent and subtle form of prejudice since it is also associated with pity/compassion and religiosity—contrarily to hostile ageism that reflects low compassion and highly valuing power and ambitious success. We also found that religious people's ingroup conformity/traditionalism should make them ageists (see also past evidence on religion's role on other forms of prejudice). However, their high compassion pushes them to express only benevolent and not hostile ageism.

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Photo by CDC on Unsplash

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

Why is it important?

It has been argued that benevolent versus hostile ageism parallels the distinction between benevolent and hostile sexism. However, we argued that benevolent (paternalistic) sexism concerns men and women who are equal in psychological and cognitive characteristics, whereas this is not necessarily the case with all older persons. It was thus important to identify whether benevolent (paternalistic) ageism is still a form of prejudice.

Perspectives