Abstract

DANIEL, Fernanda; ANTUNES, Anna  and  AMARAL, Inês. Representações sociais da velhice. Aná. Psicológica [online]. 2015, vol.33, n.3, pp.291-301. ISSN 0870-8231.  https://doi.org/10.14417/ap.972.

This study analyses the representations of old age from a sample of elderly and formal caregivers. The instruments used in the collection of data were the Survey Questionnaire and the Free Association Test words. The working hypothesis formulated is that the representation of elderly, being a social construction, reflects a negative conceptualization induced by the collective consciousness of society significantly characterized by a negative perception of old age while figuring the end of active life. Consistent with our hypothesis, the results reveal the prevalence of negative stereotyping of ageism associating old age, in both groups investigated, to the attributes of negative evaluative nature including loneliness, illness and dependence. The verified social representations will not be foreign to the corporate model that is harmful to old age, which rejects what is old (Bosi, 1983). However, it is our belief that the improvements in quality of life, along with the new ageing discursive narrative (productive, healthy, successful, positive, active), are likely to metamorphose the representational field of “old age” easing the its negative charge.

Keywords : Socialization; Social representations; Elderly; Ageism.

        · abstract in Portuguese     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )