Shimizu, Y. (清水 佑輔) (2021). An overlooked perspective in psychological interventions to reduce anti-elderly discriminatory attitudes. 高齢者に対する差別的態度の軽減を目指した心理学的介入の盲点 Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 765394. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.765394
The world’s population is aging at a remarkable rate. In this aging society, intergenerational conflicts between the elderly and the rest of the population are frequently observed in many workplaces and nursing care. Anti-elderly discriminatory attitudes held by non-elderly people have been examined as one of the major causes of such intergenerational conflicts. This opinion paper will begin with a broad overview of the interventions that have been implemented to reduce anti-elderly discriminatory attitudes. Then, an important perspective specific to a social group of the elderly, which have not been sufficiently paid attention to, is pointed out; all people will eventually belong to a social group of the elderly. As a theory that incorporates this perspective, Levy’s (2009) stereotype embodiment theory (SET) will be introduced, and a typical factor (i.e., subjective time to become elderly) that should be focused on in future interventions to reduce anti-elderly discriminatory attitudes, will be discussed.