Social Issues among the Elderly

Abstract

This article examines the question of whether current attitudes about social issues can be traced to early background characteristics of older persons. The data come from the 1977 NORC General Social Survey and are based on the responses of those 60+. Dependent variables include composite measures of attitudes about abortion, sexual morality, tolerance, and race relations. The effects of relative family income at age 16, region of residence at age 16, and type of community of residence at age 16 are analyzed after controlling the effects of current socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. The significant increments in explained variance produced by the inclusion of the long-term antecedent variables demonstrate the value of examining background characteristics at earlier life stages as a source of current attitudinal differences among older persons.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Cole, S. 1979 The Sociological Orientation: An Introduction to Sociology. Skokie, IL: Rand McNally.

Costa, P. , R. McCrae , and A. Norris 1981

"Personal adjustment to aging: longitudinal prediction from neuroticism and extraversion."

J. of Gerontology 36: 78-85.

Elder, G. H., Jr. 1974 Children of the Great Depression: Social Change in Life Experience. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.

Fox, J. 1981-1982

"Perspectives on the continuity perspective."

Int. J. of Aging and Human Development 14: 97-115.

Glenn, N. and L. Hill, Jr. 1977

"Rural-urban differences in attitudes and behavior in the United States."

Annals of the Amer. Academy of Pol. and Social Sci. 429: 36-50.

Henretta, J. and R. Campbell 1976

"Status attainment and status maintenance: a study of stratification in old age."

Amer. Soc. Rev. 41: 981-992.

Hyman, H. and C. Wright 1979 Education's Lasting Influence on Values. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.

Hyman, H. , C. Wright , and J. Reed 1975 The Enduring Effects of Education. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.

Larson, R. 1978

"Thirty years of research on the subjective well-being of older Americans."

J. of Gerontology 33: 109-125.

10.

Maas, H. and J. Kuypers 1974 From Thirty to Seventy: A Forty-Year Longitudinal Study of Adult Life Styles and Personality. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

11.

McCrae, R. , P. Costa , and D. Arenberg 1980

"Constancy of adult personality structure in males: longitudinal, cross-sectional, and times-of-measurement analyses."

J. of Gerontology 35: 877-883.

12.

Maddox, G. 1979

"Sociology of later life."

Annual Rev. of Sociology 5: 113-135.

13.

Mannheim, K. 1952 "The problem of generations," in K. Mannheim (ed.) Essays on the Sociology of Knowledge. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

14.

Moss, H. and E. Susman 1980 "Longitudinal study of personality development," in 0. Brim and J. Kagan (eds.) Constancy and Change in Human Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.

15.

Mussen, P. , M. Honzik , and D. Eichorn 1982

"Early adult antecedents of life satisfaction at age 70."

J. of Gerontology 37: 316-322.

16.

Nunn, C. , H. Crockett Jr. , and J. Williams 1978 Tolerance for Nonconformity: A National Survey of Americans' Changing Commitment to Civil Liberties. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

17.

Riley, M. , M. Johnson , and A. Foner 1972 Aging and Society: A Sociology of Age Stratification. New York: Russell Sage.

18.

Ryder, N. 1965

"The cohort as a concept in the study of social change."

Amer. Soc. Rev. 30: 843-861.