Students' expectations of ageing: An evaluation of the impact of imagined intergenerational contact and the mediating role of ageing anxiety

Abstract

Positive attitudes towards the aged and expectations of the ageing process have been recognised as important drivers of healthy ageing. Utilising novel methods previously used to improve attitudes towards older adults, the current article reports the impact of imagined contact with an older adult on expectations of ageing and ageing anxiety compared to a control. Two hundred and one undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions; (1) imagined contact with a 75. year old male, (2) imagined contact with a 75. year old female, or (3) a control. Results revealed that imagined contact with either an older male or female was associated with more positive expectations of ageing in male participants, both immediately after the intervention and at a four week follow-up, compared to the control. No such results were found for female participants. Among male participants, the relationship between imagined intergenerational contact and expectations of ageing was mediated by ageing anxiety, indicating that males in the imagined contact conditions experienced significantly better expectations of ageing through reduced anxiety about ageing, compared to the control. No indirect effect of ageing anxiety on the relationship between imagined intergenerational contact and expectations of ageing was found for female participants. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research will be discussed. Overall, the findings of the current study suggest that imagined contact may be an efficacious alternative for decreasing ageing anxiety and for producing more positive expectations of ageing when the opportunity for direct contact is unavailable.