The Relationships Among Aging Stereotypes, Aging Anxiety, Social Support, Religiosity, and Expected Health Among Colombians

Luisa Fernanda Ramírez, Ximena Palacios-Espinosa, Christina Dyar, Ashley Lytle*, Sheri R. Levy

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

The population of older adults is rapidly increasing throughout the world, particularly in Latin American countries. This increase makes it imperative to examine psychosocial perceptions and expectations of aging among these populations, which to date have received little research attention. This study aims to test two models of the associations among psychosocial perceptions, expectations of aging, and religiosity among 544 individuals (52.4% female) whose age ranged from 18 to 59 years (M = 31.7) living in Bogota, Colombia. The first model examines associations among psychosocial perceptions and psychosocial aging outcomes, while the second examines associations between these constructs and religiosity. The first model indicates that three major psychosocial predictors (social support, positive and negative aging stereotypes) are uniquely associated with three psychosocial aging outcomes (expected aging-related support, aging anxiety, expected health). The second model indicates that higher religiosity is associated with higher perceived current social support and expected aging-related support, greater endorsement of positive aging stereotypes, and lower reported aging anxiety. Results extend the literature on psychosocial perceptions and expectations of aging to Colombia and suggest that religiosity may play an important role in shaping psychosocial expectations and perceptions of aging in Colombia.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)57-70
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Adult Development
Volume26
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 15 2019

Keywords

  • Ageism
  • Aging beliefs
  • Expectations of aging
  • Latin America
  • Perceptions

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Life-span and Life-course Studies

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The Relationships Among Aging Stereotypes, Aging Anxiety, Social Support, Religiosity, and Expected Health Among Colombians'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this