Preconceito contra idosos : um estudo a partir da personalidade e dos valores humanos

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation was to explain prejudice against the elderly based on personality variables and human values, by carrying out two empirical studies, which will be presented in article format. Article 1 entitled Prejudice against the elderly: an analysis of stereotypes and discriminatory behaviors aimed to verify the population's prejudice against the elderly. The research was carried out with 215 people from the general population of João Pessoa (PB), the average age was 29.44 years (SD = 10.86, ranging from 18 to 54 years) who responded to the following instruments: Differential Scale Semantics of Attitudes towards the Elderly, Scale of Relationship with Elderly People, Sociodemographic Questionnaire and Questionnaire about the elderly. The analyzes were carried out with the aim of verifying whether there is a prevalence of discriminatory behavior against the elderly and whether there is a difference in discriminatory behavior depending on the gender of the participants. The results indicated that participants know that the age for a person to be considered elderly is 60 years old (48.6%), they live with elderly people (72.1%), at home (47.9%), but the majority have never cared for of elderly people (53.5%). Furthermore, they presented, for the most part, positive stereotypes about the elderly, especially in relation to cognition (e.g., wise (89.3%), persistent (55.8%)), as well as demonstrating less hostile discriminatory behaviors, especially the feminine gender. Article 2 entitled Explaining ageism based on personality and human values aimed to explain prejudice against the elderly based on personality and human values. 204 people from the general population of Brazil participated, with a mean age of 48.1 years (SD = 11.29), equally distributed according to gender. The majority were from Paraíba (83.3%), married/in a stable union (67.6%), with a postgraduate degree (58.3%), middle class (90.6%), who lived with elderly people (81 .4%), mainly in the family environment (53.4%). The following instruments responded: Fraboni Ageism Scale with three factors: separation, stereotype and affective attitudes, Ambivalent Ageism Scale, consisting of dimensions referring to hostile prejudice and benevolent prejudice (underestimation at work and excessive adjustment), Big Five Factor Inventory of Personality distributed into five factors: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness and agreeableness, Basic Values Questionnaire distributed into six dimensions corresponding to the six value subfunctions: experimentation, achievement, suprapersonal, existence, interactive, normative, Sociodemographic Questionnaire and Questionnaire about the elderly. The results demonstrated a negative and significant correlation between the stereotype factor of the Fraboni Ageism scale and the interactive and experimentation subfunctions. As for personality traits, it was found that openness to change was negatively and significantly correlated with the factors stereotype and affective attitude; extraversion showed a negative and significant correlation with the factors stereotype and affective attitude; agreeableness demonstrated a negative and significant correlation with the factors separation, stereotype and affective attitude; neuroticism showed a positive and significant correlation with the factors separation and stereotype. As for regression, it was found that the separation factor could be explained by the traits agreeableness and neuroticism; the stereotype factor for extroversion and neuroticism, and the affective attitude factor for agreeableness. Finally, the experimentation subfunction negatively explained the stereotype factor. It is concluded that prejudice against the elderly, commonly recognized as ageism, is a phenomenon present in several societies, such as Paraíba, a Brazilian state that has the highest percentage of elderly people in the northeast region. It is hoped that the data from these studies can contribute to the discussion of the topic, social awareness and the development of new research around discrimination or prejudice based on age.