A Study on Young Individuals' Perceptions of Older Adults' Mentalities

This research project investigates the perceptions of young individuals towards older adults and their demographic values within society. It addresses the stereotype mentality often associated with older individuals and explores the causes leading to these perceptions. The study employs primary data analysis, gathering insights from young people through surveys, and applies psychological theories, particularly the stereotype threat theory, to understand the impact of age stereotypes. The findings reveal a mix of positive and negative views, highlighting respect for elders' knowledge and experience alongside concerns about their adaptability to modern society. The research aims to foster understanding between generations and promote effective communication by examining the diverse mentalities and perspectives of young and old individuals.

Running Head: Research Project
RESEARCH PROJECT

Research Project 1
Abstract
Individuals need to interact among several persons who live in a similar society along with them
in a regular medium. This interactivity between two or more persons depends upon how their
perceptions differ and match based on certain circumstances. Considering the major aspects of
the study, there has been identified and a necessity to draw the viewpoint of young individuals
regarding the mentalities and demographic values of an older individual living in a society. The
study aims to provide primary data analysis in contradiction with the psychological perspectives
that an individual develops after encountering certain situations with other individuals.
The study has been conducted based on how young people thinks about having interacted with
an older person. These attributes provide an estimation of how both individuals can maintain
respective consistency among their conversations using their adaptability constraints. The study
has imposed and issue in the form of a rational that possesses evidential information about the
need for understanding each and other perspectives such that effective communication in the
society among different individuals would be maintained. The significance behind applying
psychological theories within this analysis provides an upper hand in deriving conclusions that
are relevant to that of possible solutions.

Research Project 2
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................8

Research Project 3
Introduction
The perception of individuals towards adult aged people has been identified to be indicated
towards a stereotype mentality, which eventually does not match with that of the perception of
young adults. For this purpose, many societies have observed not considering older adults to
participate among their cultural activities. This study aims to identify the major causes that lead a
person to create a perception regarding the older aged people in alignment with the modern
cultural aspects. One of the major issues that have been identified by researchers all over the
world is addressed towards the perception of older age people in comparison with the new
society. There have been several positive and negative attitude that reflects the nature of the
interaction between the two diverse aged individuals. With the help of the study, the collected
data would be analysed and discussions would be drawn to understand the effectiveness of the
responses that have been provided by sample individuals of the primary research.
Executing research based on a particular topic requires acceptance of several theoretical
perspectives that enables the researchers to go through evidential information that is available as
a conclusion of other researchers. This particular study is concentrated upon pursuing a
perception regarding the older aged people from diversified samples of individuals it is expected
that a psychological theory needs to be applied to deduce conclusions from the data collected.
According to the methodological applications that have been performed in the research, the
survey has been selected to the appropriate data collection method that would enable extraction
of information from several individuals and aligning their perceptions.
The application of psychological theories generally plays an important role in analysing the
human cognition behaviour to that of the situations a deal within daily life. However, North&
Fiske (2015) stated that certain situations and their appropriate solutions are extracted from
experiences that are faced by individuals throughout their lifespan. From this observation, it
could be stated that the decision-making ability of an adult would be more efficient than that of a
young individual. This is because the experiences that are gathered by that adult person
throughout his life would provide him with an opportunity to apply real-life constraints to reduce
solutions of a particular situation. On the contrary, Golant (2020) opined that the young
individual might take decision based on his or her mood as well as their likes and dislikes. This

Research Project 4
particular Criterion has been highlighted to be evidential support that the research would possess
through the application of the primary data collection method.
Defining stereotypes based on their demographic values required the researcher to grab
several experiences under the psychological field such that cognitive representations of the
human behaviour could be aligned. In other words, Choi & Matz-Costa (2018) stated that the
information that is represented cognitively are social interactions with the generalized perception
of an individual concerning certain situations. For this purpose, the application of stereotype
threat theory has been applied in this study to extract explanation regarding the impact of age
stereotypes over other individuals and society. In other words, Löckenhoffet al. (2009) opined
that using this theoretical aspect the information regarding negative impacts are generally
highlighted whereas positive impacts are diminished due to the extraction of threat-based effects
over the individuals. Additionally, the analysis that has been described in the discussion section
of this study is deduced from the constraints explained under the integrated trade theory that
produces the predictability of a psychologist towards the people regarding their perceptibility
Each of the categories of responses has been idealised in favour of the demographic values of
aged individuals and there mentality towards the new society. The selection of primary
methodology that is the data collection procedure has been executed over 260 individuals among
which 50 responses have been filtered out to be the most relevant comparison to the remaining.
The significance behind the selection of this data collection mechanism lies in the fact that it
enables the estimation of the perception of those individuals regarding the aged people. As per
the views by Eismann, Verbeij & Henkens(2019), with this information, a wide range of
perceptions could be extracted and there enrich the research with relevant evidence. The
following research questions have been deduced in favour of the perceptions of young people
towards older age people and how it concludes to the fact of attaining a balance in the society
maintaining cultural decorum.
 What are the views of young individuals towards older adults concerning their age and
demographic perceptions?
 How the research finding helps the participants in gaining ideas about society old age
issues?

Research Project 5
Discussion
The framing of the research questions has been performed aligning the research topic of
analysis regarding older age people and their contemporary perception upon modern society. The
execution of the primary data collection has resulted in formulating several aspects of young
people mentalities towards older people. From this instance, the real-time data has been
withdrawn from which particular keywords have been selected that represents once mentality
towards older people. Positive and negative both results have been analysed maintaining
consistency of the research in terms of accuracy and reliability constraints. The responses that
have been provided by the sample individuals who participated in the survey have relevance
towards the research questions that have been framed before the initiation of the research. This
evaluation provided a mutual alignment and supportive declaration of the findings that have been
extracted from the primary data collection methods. Secondary data collection could have been
performed using case studies and other articles from the Internet maintaining valuable sources
but may not have provided real-life data in terms of people’s perception. In other words,
Witkowska(2016) opined that theoretical aspects are applied in secondary research where the
derivation of the results are performed based on hypothetical aspects rather than practical ones.
Henceforth, the research questions have been framed touch that every response that is provided
by the individual maintain relevancy to that of the target outcomes as anticipated by the
researcher.
Disseminating the results that have been observed from the primary data collection the
indication of young people towards the older ones have been reported to be a positive as well as
a negative valuation. In other words, Cuddy & Fiske(2002) suggested that young people have
indicated the elder people in terms of their maturity and knowledge to a higher extent than that of
their negative nature of accepting modern perceptions. From this attribute, it could be stated that
the respect of the young people towards mature individuals are higher as it poses more
knowledge about life and progressing towards success. However, Watkins et al. (2017) argued
that there still lies several contradictory statements that generate the diversity of thoughts and
perceptions that are possessed by a young individual to that of an old one. Trustworthiness and
self-integrity have been a term to be to beneficiary constraints that oppose by older individuals
according to the young respondents who have been participated in the survey. According to

Research Project 6
Warmoth et al. (2018), the power of analysis of an individual concerning situations and
providing solutions to those traditions making our more controlled to the old people rather than
young people. This is because the relevance of the solution that is provided by old people
towards a situation is much justifiable rather than a mood-based decision taken by young
observant.
Generally, the perspectives of an older person are observed to be intrigued by cultural
and traditional reforms that validate their thoughts and way of leading their life. As opined by
Kornadtet al. (2019), in this context, any changes that are vulnerable to occur within their
societal segments may pose a threat to their emotions as well as their perspective towards the
society. This constraint specifies that the acceptability of an individual especially the older aged
ones are much lower than that of the modern world. As observed by North& Fiske, (2015), this is
because having highly experienced decision-making perspectives of the aged person they can
stick hard to their thought and maintaining the stability of their decisions. However, situations
may differ where decisions often change along will the changes in societal behaviour as well as
the development of technical practices.
Many psychologists all over the world have indicated that the disruptive mentality of
older age people has grown to a disgust regarding the changes that have been observed within
young people in taking decisions casually. This is because agent people maintain there reputed
positions by analysing situations and making decisions that provide relevance to their thoughts
and logical explanation to everything. On the contrary, Hinrichsen(2015) exclaimed that young
people generally make decisions based on their moods for which they often suffer consequences
that may not provide positive impacts over them. From this conclusion, it could be stated that the
estimation of older people against the modern yeah adults regarding decision-making is
considered weak and inefficient. Considering the perspectives of psychologists, the aim of this
research has been focused upon extracting informative content regarding the perception of
various young individuals for against older age people (Löckenhoff et al., 2009). The
significance behind performing this research lies in the fact that evidential observations have
been deduced that reflects the contradictions that often occur within societies due to the diverse
mentalities of old people to the top modern young ones. For this purpose, maybe researchers who

Research Project 7
performed practises under the psychological aspects has been triggered by this concept which led
them to analyse the current condition of the society in terms of demographic values.
In the modern world, the perception of older age people is quite different from others
because according to the modern generation kids and adults does not have sufficient knowledge.
As opined by Steenhaut et al. (2018), in comparison to tradition and modern era there is a
difference of hell and heaven but the concept of the conceptualization are same. The main issues
that have been found from the result are that the older age people are more conservative, slow
and grumpy. In addition to this, in the modern generation, people have no such time to
implement research on the specific issues they are facing. It has been observed that according to
older age people perspective if they are encountered any rather issues then they start research on
it and draws an implication for the issues. However, in the modern world, every people like to
prefer heat and trail methods that they will face if any negative output generated from the
situation.
Based on the research and result, it has been observed that the older age people might
have the traditional concept concerning their knowledge and some other deteriorated functioning.
For example, the other problem that might have the potential to affect the research result is that
the older age people are quite lonely and vulnerable. As per the viewpoint of van Dongen et al.
(2019), the main reason for their lonely and vulnerable is because they pass their most of the
time and now they only needs that is peace. In some of the situation, it has been observed that the
concept of maturity and knowledge creates negative issues because older age people have more
maturity and knowledge. That is, one of the argumentative that the adult and younger generation
people and kids do not the knowledge as compared to the older people and that is because of
their age difference.
It can be stated that the old age people are more and mainly rely more on their respective
experiences and decision-making concepts. From the previously mentioned data collection result,
it has been noted that most of the aged people are having the thought about wisdom. Older
people are more conscious about their health and that is one of the most important factors that
might affect the research result. On the other hand, Ratcliffe et al. (2019) have mentioned that it
is quite natural that if we compare an old age people with younger generation people then there
must be the difference in their thoughts and financial respects. Therefore, it can be stated that the

Research Project 8
responses from the older age people create a negative impact on the research result and the main
reason is their ageing factors.

Research Project 9
References
Choi, Y. J., & Matz-Costa, C. (2018). Perceived neighborhood safety, social cohesion, and
psychological health of older adults. The Gerontologist, 58(1), 196-206. Retrieved from:
https://academic.oup.com/gerontologist/article/58/1/196/2894397
Cuddy, A. J., & Fiske, S. T. (2002). Doddering but dear: Process, content, and function in
stereotyping of older persons. Ageism: Stereotyping and prejudice against older persons, 3(1),
26. Retrieved from: https://repositorio.iscte-iul.pt/bitstream/10071/16212/5/Ageism%20in
%20children_IJP_posprint.pdf
Eismann, M., Verbeij, T., &Henkens, K. (2019). Older workers’ plans for activities in
retirement: The role of opportunities, spousal support, and time perception. Psychology and
Aging, 34(5), 738. Retrieved from:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kene_Henkens/publication/334471346_Older_workers'_pla
ns_for_activities_in_retirement_The_role_of_opportunities_spousal_support_and_time_percepti
on/links/5d34b18aa6fdcc370a547d56/Older-workers-plans-for-activities-in-retirement-The-role-
of-opportunities-spousal-support-and-time-perception.pdf
Hinrichsen, G. A. (2015). Attitudes about aging. In P. A. Lichtenberg, B. T. Mast, B. D.
Carpenter, & J. Loebach Wetherell (Eds.), APA handbooks in psychology®. APA handbook of
clinical geropsychology, Vol. 1. History and status of the field and perspectives on aging (p.
363–377). Retrieved from: American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14458-
015
Kornadt, A. E., Voss, P., Fung, H. H., Hess, T. M., & Rothermund, K. (2019). Preparation for
old age: The role of cultural context and future perceptions. The Journals of Gerontology: Series
B, 74(4), 609-619.Retrieved from:
https://socialforces.unc.edu/psychsocgerontology/article-pdf/74/4/609/28292465/gby075.pdf
Golant, S. M. (2020). The distance to death perceptions of older adults explain why they age in
place: A theoretical examination. Journal of Aging Studies, 54, 100863. Retrieved from:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7489887/

Research Project 10
Löckenhoff, C. E., De Fruyt, F., Terracciano, A., McCrae, R. R., De Bolle, M., Costa, P.
T., ...&Allik, J. (2009). Perceptions of aging across 26 cultures and their culture-level
associates. Psychology and aging, 24(4), 941.Retrieved from:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2933107/
North, M. S., & Fiske, S. T. (2015). Modern attitudes toward older adults in the aging world: A
cross-cultural meta-analysis. Psychological bulletin, 141(5), 993. Retrieved from:
https://www.academia.edu/download/56106170/North_Fiske_Cross-Cult-Elder-Attitudes-
Meta_PsychBull_2015.pdf
Ratcliffe, J., Lancsar, E., Flint, T., Kaambwa, B., Walker, R., Lewin, G., ...& Cameron, I. D.
(2017). Does one size fit all? Assessing the preferences of older and younger people for
attributes of quality of life. Quality of Life Research, 26(2), 299-309. Retrieved from:
https://agedcare.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/2020-06/RCD.9999.0097.0007.pdf
Steenhaut, P., Demeyer, I., De Raedt, R., & Rossi, G. (2018). The role of personality in the
assessment of subjective and physiological emotional reactivity: a comparison between younger
and older adults. Assessment, 25(3), 285-301. Retrieved from:
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8532085/file/8532087.pdf
vanDongen, S. I., van Straaten, B., Wolf, J. R., Onwuteaka‐Philipsen, B. D., van der Heide, A.,
Rietjens, J. A., & van de Mheen, D. (2019). Self‐reported health, healthcare service use and
health‐related needs: A comparison of older and younger homeless people. Health & social care
in the community, 27(4), e379-e388. Retrieved from:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/hsc.12739
Warmoth, K., Tarrant, M., Abraham, C., & Lang, I. A. (2018). Relationship between perceptions
of ageing and frailty in English older adults. Psychology, health & medicine, 23(4), 465-
474.Retrieved from: https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10871/28198/Ageing
%20perceptions%20and%20frailty_ACCEPTED_Psych%2C%20Health
%20%26%20Med.docx?sequence=1&isAllowed=n
Watkins, D. C., Wharton, T., Mitchell, J. A., Matusko, N., & Kales, H. C. (2017). Perceptions
and receptivity of nonspousal family support: A mixed methods study of psychological distress

Research Project 11
among older, church-going African American men. Journal of mixed methods research, 11(4),
487-509.Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc5606206/
Witkowska, J. (2016). Corporate social responsability: Selected theoretical and empirical
aspects. Comparative Economic Research, 19(1), 27-43.Retrieved from:
https://content.sciendo.com/downloadpdf/journals/cer/19/1/article-p27.xml