Kanık, Betül, Uluğ, Özden Melis, Solak, Nevin and Chayinska, Maria (2022) “Let the strongest survive”: ageism and social Darwinism as barriers to supporting policies to benefit older individuals. Journal of Social Issues. ISSN 0022-4537

PDF - Accepted Version Restricted to SRO admin only until 25 September 2023. Download (508kB)

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) identified +65 individuals as one of the most vulnerable populations in the current pandemic. Previous research has shown a robust association between ageism and derogatory attitudes and behaviors targeting older people. We proposed that reluctance of people under age 65 to endorse the policies that benefit older adults can be further explained by their adherence to social Darwinism. We tested a mediation model to examine whether social Darwinism would predict support for policies directly and indirectly through the endorsement of ageist attitudes. We conducted two correlational studies in Turkey (Study 1; N = 1261) and the United States (Study 2; N = 210). In Study 1, we collected data through social media and messaging platforms in April 2020. In Study 2, participants were recruited via Prolific Academic in May 2020. In both studies, we found that adherence to social Darwinist beliefs negatively predicted support for policies. We also found that this association was positively mediated by ageist attitudes. Overall, our research contributes to the scholarly effort to identify the social-psychological barriers to public support for legal initiatives aimed to secure a healthy and productive future for older people.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Aging, Behavioral and Social Science
Schools and Departments:	School of Psychology > Psychology
SWORD Depositor:	Mx Elements Account
Depositing User:	Mx Elements Account
Date Deposited:	25 Oct 2022 14:26
Last Modified:	25 Oct 2022 14:30
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/108675

View download statistics for this item

📧 Request an update