The Age Group Evaluation and Description (AGED) Inventory: A New Instrument for Assessing Stereotypes of and Attitudes toward Age Groups

The AGED Inventory was designed to overcome shortcomings identified in the Aging Semantic Differential, a frequently used measure of how age groups are perceived. The new instrument was developed to allow assessment both of age stereotypes and of attitudes toward age-specified targets. The Inventory...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of aging & human development 1995-01, Vol.40 (1), p.31-55
Main Authors: Knox, V. Jane, Gekoski, William L., Kelly, Lynn E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Age Bias
Age differences
Age Groups
Aged
Aging
Aging (Individuals)
Aging Semantic Differential
Attitude
Attitudes
Confirmatory factor analysis
Female
Higher Education
Humans
Male
Management
Measurement Techniques
Measures
Middle age
Middle Aged
Morality
Older Adults
Prejudice
Semantic differential
Stereotypes
Surveys and Questionnaires
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Summary:The AGED Inventory was designed to overcome shortcomings identified in the Aging Semantic Differential, a frequently used measure of how age groups are perceived. The new instrument was developed to allow assessment both of age stereotypes and of attitudes toward age-specified targets. The Inventory was developed with data from 300 male and 300 female respondents. Two seven-item evaluative factors (the Goodness and Positiveness dimensions) resulted from a series of factor analyses used to reduce an initial set of thirty-five evaluative adjective pairs. Two seven-item descriptive factors (the Vitality and Maturity dimensions) resulted from a separate series of factor analyses used to reduce an initial set of fifty adjective pairs judged to differentiate age groups. Using confirmatory factor analyses and coefficients of congruence on data from an additional 800 respondents, the factor structures of the two evaluative factors and of the two descriptive factors were found to be replicable for young, middle-aged, and old targets assessed in either between or within subject designs. Its ease of administration, multi-dimensionality, flexibility of targets specification, and capability for assessing attitude and/or stereotype in a manner congruent with current conceptualizations of these constructs make the AGED Inventory useful in a variety of contexts.
ISSN:0091-4150
1541-3535
DOI:10.2190/8CUC-4XK8-M33K-07YD