Are Asian cultures really less ageist than Western ones? It depends on the questions asked

TLDR

Ageism is a growing concern in ageing societies such as Asia and Europe, yet the belief that Eastern cultures are less ageist because of respect for elders remains unconfirmed. The study compares young adults’ attitudes toward older people in the UK and Taiwan to test the culture hypothesis of lower ageism in Eastern societies. Researchers assessed meta‑perceptions of normative attitudes and personal attitudes across cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of ageism in 184 UK and 249 Taiwanese participants. Results show that while Taiwanese participants held more positive meta‑perceptions of competence and admiration, they also reported more negative meta‑perceptions and personal affective and behavioral attitudes, indicating that ageist attitudes differ in nuanced ways across cultures and components.

Abstract

Ageism is an increasing concern in ageing populations such as Asia and Europe. A prevalent assumption in psychology is that Eastern cultures may be less prone to ageism because of norms and values that honour and respect elders. Yet, evidence for this culture hypothesis is inconclusive. The current study examines this issue by comparing attitudes towards older people in an Eastern and Western samples of 184 young people from the UK and 249 from Taiwan. Attitudes to old age were measured both as meta‐perceptions (the perceived normative context) and personal attitudes in regard to the cognitive, affective and behavioural components of ageism. Consistent with the culture hypothesis , meta‐perceptions about competence and admiration were more positive in Taiwan than in the UK , yet other meta‐perceptions were more negative pointing to the existence of old age subtypes. Personal attitudes about older people in regard to the affective and behavioural, but not the cognitive component, were more negative in Taiwan than in the UK . Thus, cultural differences in ageism are more nuanced than suggested by previous research. The importance of distinguishing between the normative context and personal attitudes as well as the different components of ageism is highlighted by the present findings.