I want you to critique, analyze, question, comment and reflect : what did you find interesting? what was surprizing to you? did anything confuse you?
In addition you will provide substantial and thoughtful comments and feedback on the research in your peer's response found.
Bellow you will find what my peer wrote.
Peer-1: Stereotypes about aging and gender
The study I read talked about different stereotypes in aging men and women. I found it interesting because as I read, I thought about chapter two, when it talks about diversity and differences in gender. This study says that men and women are viewed differently when they are older. Women are judged by their appearance while men are judged by their accomplishments. The physical attributes that women are acknowledge for in their youth is what people use against them in a negative way later on. (Body type, beauty) With time men get wiser and possibly more career oriented and that is applauded. This stood out to me because I thought about how our society continuously decides what is good and acceptable verses what is not solely based on appearance or ones own judgment or perception.
One thing that I questioned was, if aging is normal then why is the changing of physical appearance so important in women. Chapter two talks about normal and aging and I could not wrap my head around this finding because my assumption is that its misleading the changes are bad. This also informs my thinking about why there's such a difference in acceptance between men and women. Men are viewed positively when women are not.
The article says women may be viewed positive because they are nurturing. That stereotype is that men are not nurturing or that women are feminine. The assumption is the femininity is bad, women poses these qualities while men do not.
Anna E. Kornadt, Peggy Voss, Klaus Rothermund (2013, April 28) Multiple standards of aging: gender-specific age stereotypes in different life domains
PEER-2: Loneliness and older LGB adults
Loneliness is one of the more common factors negatively affecting aging individuals. Various studies have shown that within the aging population, LGB individuals suffer more from loneliness than heterosexuals do, both in regards to a lack of intimate connections and social networks. While part of that disparity can be explained by differences in health, socioeconomic background, living conditions and frequency of social contact (among other things), there is too big of a disparity to be attributed to these factors.
In today's world, aging individuals who are homosexual will not have grown up in a time where their sexuality was considered acceptable at all. A study of 122 LGB men and women between the ages of 55 and 85 sought to find out if minority stress could therefore be the reason for the gap. Minority stress is caused by being discriminated against, whether by laws or people in general and whether that discrimination is in the form of someone's attitude or an act of aggression. LGB individuals will have likely experienced this in different forms, and they will also likely therefore come to expect it. Growing up in the world that they did, they may harbor discrimination and resentment against themselves for being the way that they are. They may also be concealing their true identity, which can drive a wedge between them and their loved ones. Despite all these factors, having LGB friends and staying active in the gay community (where they do not have to worry about being discriminated against) can counter the effects of minority stress.
Participants in the study filled out a questionnaire which measured their levels of loneliness using a predetermined scale. Their levels of general loneliness were measured, and then also broken down into emotional loneliness and social loneliness. The five aspects of minority stress (as written above) were measured as well, along with other unrelated factors like health and education level.
The study found that different aspects of minority stress were highly correlated, meaning that they tended to be found in the same individual. Lower levels of general loneliness were found with individuals who had a steady partner, good social networks, good health or high self esteem. People who had experienced discrimination, particularly from caregivers, and who expected discrimination had higher levels of general loneliness, along with those with worse health and self-esteem. Emotional loneliness was higher with those who experienced prejudice as well, and lower with those who had a steady partner. Social loneliness was correlated with friends and social networks, including LGB friends, but it was not correlated with the experience or expectation of prejudice.
Overall, minority stress factors were found to be positively correlated with loneliness, although not the factors of concealing identity or internal discrimination, while good social networks were found to be negatively correlated with loneliness.
Reference
Kuyper, L., & Fokkema, T. (2010). Loneliness among older lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults: The role of minority stress. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39(5).
PEER-3: Perceptions of gender in aging
Below are summaries of two studies I looked at, along with my brief thoughts.
1) A survey of 391 college students, which included having the students draw sketches, showed that in general, both genders viewed older women more positively than older men. Female students were more positive about interacting with older people, but they were more worried than men with regards to their own aging, and the decline of their life quality, attractiveness, physical and cognitive abilities. Female students were not more worried than male with regards to a decline in reproductive aging. Both females and males indicated that they believed that old age begins earlier for women than it does for men.
Reference:
Barrett, A.E., & von Rohr, C. (2008). Gendered perceptions of aging: An examination of college students. International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 67(4).
2) One study wanted to see if men and women were perceived differently when it comes to aging, by comparing perceptions of both genders with regards to different life domains. 298 people were given a questionnaire, and these participants included men and women ranging in age from 20 to 92. A mixed model ANOVA was used to analyze the findings: 8 (life domain categories) × 2 (genders) × 3 (age groups of participants - younger, middle-aged, older) × 2 (gender of participants). The results showed that across the domains older women were rated more positively than older men by women, but men rated both genders equally. Although the differences were small, women were rated more positively than men when it came to aging in the following domains: friends, religion, leisure, personality, health; men rated more positively in finances and work. Women were rated more positively than men in the family domain, but only by the older participants.
Reference:
Kornadt, A.E., Voss, P., & Rothermund, K. (2013). Multiple standards of aging: Gender-specific age stereotypes in different life domains. European Journal of AgeingSocial, Behavioural and Health Perspectives.
My initial thoughts:
I am surprised that on the whole, older women were seen in a more positive light than older men. I thought that because aging clearly involves physical changes, women would be more harshly judged. I was also surprised that female college students were more worried than men about most aspects of aging, as I can't really understand why that would be. Do females just worry more than males in general? I was not surprised that men were rated more positively than women with regards to finances and work, as I think that men are still seen as the traditional breadwinners, even if that stereotype is slowly fading. As women are stereotypically seen as more family-oriented, I was surprised that they mostly were rated equal to men in that domain.