This paper asks whether political factors—especially perceptions that older generations dominate politics or that one is personally excluded because of age—are associated with ageism toward older people. Using original survey data from Italy, South Korea, and the United States, the authors examine links between two kinds of political grievance (general concerns about older generations’ political dominance and personal feelings of age-based exclusion) and both explicit and implicit measures of ageism.
Original cross-national survey data Perceived political exclusion linked to explicit ageism Implicit ageism appears unrelated to political perceptions
Data and methods
The study uses original survey data collected in three countries named in the title: Italy, South Korea, and the United States. The authors measure perceptions of political exclusion at two levels (general worries about older generations’ dominance and personal feelings of being excluded because of age) and assess ageism with both explicit and implicit measures, as reported in the abstract.
Main findings
Across all three countries the abstract reports consistent associations between perceived political grievances and explicit expressions of ageism. By contrast, the abstract states that implicit ageism showed little or no relationship with political perceptions. These results are presented as associations in the paper, with the abstract noting the consistency across the three national samples.
- Perceived political exclusion correlates with higher explicit ageist attitudes in Italy, South Korea, and the United States.
- Implicit measures of ageism do not show the same associations with political perceptions.
