LATENCY‐AGED CHILDREN'S VIEWS OF AGING

Abstract

Abstract This study investigated the contents of children's attitudes toward the elderly and compared these attitudes with the children's attitudes toward young people. The Children's Views on Aging (CVOA) questionnaire was administered to 256 latency‐aged (8‐10 year‐old) children. The children were white and black, male and female, and came from both rural and urban backgrounds. The children's responses to the CVOA were analyzed quantitatively using chi‐square and t‐tests. The results showed that children had some negative perceptions of the aging process, but positive views of the older person. Comparison of the children's attitudes toward older people and young people showed that the children's attitudes were more negative toward older people in the potency dimension of attitude but more positive toward older people in the evaluative dimension. The findings suggest that children's attitudes toward aging are complex and diverse. Important implications for educational practice are discussed. This study formed part of Ronald Marks' doctoral dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the School of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh, 1980.