A REEXAMINATION OF THE FACTOR STRUCTURE OF THE AGING SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL USING A GENERALIZED SOCIAL OBJECT

During the past thirty years, gerontologists and educational professionals have attempted to determine the effects of teaching courses in gerontology and aging on the attitudes of students. The results of studies of attitude toward the elderly before and after such courses have been mixed. This study discusses some of the problems in assessing attitudes toward the elderly and reexamines the Aging Semantic Differential, an instrument developed in an attempt to clarify the factors accounting for attitudes toward the elderly and to provide a viable instrument for attitude measurement. The instrument was reported to consist of three underlying factors. It was reported that factor scales could be used to do profile analyses to determine variations in attitude toward different age groups. The original instrument was developed utilizing a social object of young, middle-aged, and old men. In many of the studies conducted with the instrument, a more generalized social object such as old person has been used. The current study attempts to determine if three factors are appropriate, as originally reported, and whether the items reported to load on the original three factors are the same if a more generalized social object is used. Suggestions for appropriate use of the Aging Semantic Differential by educational professionals who wish to do a profile analysis of attitude and attitude change as a result of educational intervention are included.