Piotr Sorokowski1, Agnieszka Sorokowska1,2, Tomasz Frackowiak1, Corinna E Löckenhoff3. 1. Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Poland. 2. Smell and Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. 3. Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Cross-cultural studies suggest that aging attitudes show some variation across societies, but this evidence is mostly drawn from industrialized settings. The limited research record on pre-industrial societies is largely qualitative in nature. The present study targeted this gap by adapting an existing multidimensional measure of aging attitudes for use in traditional populations and administering it to samples from one traditional society and two industrialized societies. METHOD: We administered the adapted multidimensional measure of aging attitudes to samples from one traditional society (Tsimane' Amazonian forager-farmers in Bolivia, n = 90) and two industrialized societies (the United States, n = 91, and Poland, n = 100). RESULTS: Across societies, aging perceptions were more favorable for respect and wisdom than for other domains of functioning, and women were perceived to be aging less favorably. Further, the Tsimane' reported more positive aging perceptions than the U.S. and Polish samples, especially with regard to memory functioning. Within the Tsimane' sample, there was no evidence of an influence of acculturation on aging perceptions. DISCUSSION: The present study contributed to our understanding of cross-cultural differences in aging attitudes. Theoretical implications and directions for future research are discussed.
OBJECTIVES: Cross-cultural studies suggest that aging attitudes show some variation across societies, but this evidence is mostly drawn from industrialized settings. The limited research record on pre-industrial societies is largely qualitative in nature. The present study targeted this gap by adapting an existing multidimensional measure of aging attitudes for use in traditional populations and administering it to samples from one traditional society and two industrialized societies. METHOD: We administered the adapted multidimensional measure of aging attitudes to samples from one traditional society (Tsimane' Amazonian forager-farmers in Bolivia, n = 90) and two industrialized societies (the United States, n = 91, and Poland, n = 100). RESULTS: Across societies, aging perceptions were more favorable for respect and wisdom than for other domains of functioning, and women were perceived to be aging less favorably. Further, the Tsimane' reported more positive aging perceptions than the U.S. and Polish samples, especially with regard to memory functioning. Within the Tsimane' sample, there was no evidence of an influence of acculturation on aging perceptions. DISCUSSION: The present study contributed to our understanding of cross-cultural differences in aging attitudes. Theoretical implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Authors: Tomasz Frąckowiak; Agata Groyecka-Bernard; Anna Oleszkiewicz; Marina Butovskaya; Agnieszka Żelaźniewicz; Piotr Sorokowski Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2020-09-27 Impact factor: 3.390