ATTITUDES TO AGING QUESTIONNAIRES: SOME EVIDENCE FOR POTENTIAL BIAS IN THEIR DESIGN

Questionnaires on attitudes to aging may contain tacit sources of negative bias by inviting judgments not just on aging but on physical and economic welfare. In the present study, attitudes were assessed after participants (89 psychology first-year undergraduates, mean age 25.55 yrs, SD 9.11) had been asked either a set of 5 neutral questions, 5 questions on economic welfare of older people, or 5 questions on the physical frailty of older people. The economic questions group had significantly more negative views of mental aspects of aging than did the neutral group. The implications of this finding are discussed.