Ageism in an Italian sample. How negative and positive ageist beliefs relate to epistemic trust, psychological distress, and well-being

Introduction: Ageism is a social issue of growing concern: ageist beliefs can shape the individual and the collective experience of aging; people utilize age in different ways to better understand themselves, others, and the social world in which they live in. These practices can lead to a prejudiced and stereotypical way of thinking and of behaving. Investigating how these assumptions, specifically about older people, develop and interact with other dimensions could be an addition of great value to the existing literature. The present study aimed to explore positive and negative ageism in young adults (YA) and adults (AD), and the relationship with psychological variables such as: epistemic trust, mistrust and credulity, psychological distress, and psychological wellbeing. Methods: The sample consisted of 301 Italian adults. Participants completed an online survey which included the following self-report questionnaires: “Attitudes towards older people” Scale, the “Epistemic Trust, Mistrust and Credulity Questionnaire”, the “Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21” and the “Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale”. To evaluate differences in ageism between two age groups, both parametric (i.e., two-sample t-test) and non-parametric (two-sample Mann-Whitney’s U) statistical tests were performed. In order to first test for group differences in demographics and psychological characteristics, two sample t-tests and two-sample Mann-Whitney’s U tests were computed. In order to test for group differences in ageism, two-sample t-tests and two-sample Mann-Whitney’s U tests were conducted on positive and negative ageism. Cohen’s d was calculated for all comparisons to quantify the effect size. To evaluate the relationship between ageism and psychological characteristics, partial correlations (controlling for age) were conducted on the entire sample on both positive and negative ageism and the other variables of interest. Results: Negative ageism resulted as significantly higher in YA compared to AD; on the contrary, AD presented more positive ageism than YA. Positive correlations were found between negative ageism and epistemic mistrust and credulity. Negative ageism also positively correlated with psychological distress, and negatively with psychological well-being. Conclusion: The results suggest that one’s ageist beliefs may change in time. Age-group differences in negative and positive ageism are discussed considering the social identity theory. The relationship between ageism and the individuals’ epistemic stance suggests that mistrust addressed to experts and authority, who are often viewed as pertaining to an older age group, could represent an ageist dimension. Lastly, our findings on ageism and psychological distress and well-being indicate that it is vital for future research to concentrate on the link between ageist beliefs and mental health.