Public Perceptions of Older People A literature review

as ‘productive’ compared to 39% of elderly women and 34% of elderly men,
while 48% considered elderly men as ‘unproductive’. Similarly, 58%
perceived senior citizens to be ‘inefficient’, compared to 35% believing elderly
men to be ‘inefficient’ (Arnold-Cathalifaud et al. 2008). However, this pattern
was not reflected for all traits. Elderly women were rated as slightly higher
than senior citizens when it came to being ‘skilled’ (Arnold-Cathalifaud et al.
2008). Having ‘wisdom’ is a trait that has frequently been associated with
older age (Wachelke & Lins 2008). Lichtenstein et al. (2005) found that
wisdom was frequently mentioned by children in written descriptions of their
drawings of older people.
Declining mental ability is perceived as a feature of growing old. Older people
are stereotyped as progressively becoming incompetent, unproductive and
forgetful, and this can vary between subgroups of older people i.e. senior
citizens and the elderly. However, despite the fact that older people are
perceived to have poor cognitive functioning, a small number acknowledge
that older people possess valuable experience and wisdom.
7.5.1.5 Personality and disposition
Ageing and older people are frequently negatively associated with developing
particular personality traits. Older people are often perceived as being
pessimistic, difficult, inflexible, suspicious, secretive, grouchy or irritable,
angry, and bitter (Gellis et al. 2003; Tan et al. 2004; Okoye & Obikeze 2005;
Sauer 2006). Older men, in particular, are seen as more intolerant, suspicious
and conflictive than elderly women and senior citizens, although these
adjectives are generally associated with all categories of older people (Arnold-
Cathalifaud et al. 2008). In contrast, older people have been stereotyped on
more positive personality traits reflecting warmth such as friendliness, being
good-natured, sincere and warm (Cuddy et al. 2005). Fiske et al. (2002)
found that on perceived warmth, elderly people were rated higher than other
societal groups such as people with a disability or the homeless. Older people
have also been described as outgoing (Arnold-Cathalifaud et al. 2008); and
are perceived as being more dependable than younger people (Palmore
1999). These perceived personality traits are consistent with positive
stereotypes elicited in similar studies (Barrett & Cantwell 2007).
Older people have also been identified as conservative, set in their ways, and
increasingly religious (Okoye 2004; Tan et al. 2004). For example, Arnold-
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