Perceived elderly traits and young people's helping tendencies in the U.S., Ireland, Nigeria & Brazil.

The traits young people (undergraduates) in the U.S., Ireland, Nigeria, and Brazil attribute to elderly people had implications on their tendencies to help or not to help them. Traits were classified as either "attractive" or "unattractive" and they fell under Positive Personal, Positive Interpersonal, and Positive Need on the one hand, and Negative Personal, Negative Interpersonal, and Negative Need on the other. The "attractive" elderly traits were more likely to influence young people's tendency to help elderly persons and elderly parents in both Western (the U.S.A. and Ireland) and non-Western societies (Nigeria and Brazil) societies. Although "unattractive" traits did not prevent young people from desiring to help their elderly parents in both Western and non-Western societies, it did have a strong influence in their tendency to not help the elderly. The results were discussed within the frame-work of individualism/collectivism, with suggestion made for future research.