Older Characters in Children's Animated Television Programs: A Content Analysis of Their Portrayal

Researchers have found that children as young as elementary school age have already begun to develop negative stereotypes about older people. In order to determine television's role in children's perceptions of older adults, this study looks at how older characters' mental, physical, and overall characteristics are portrayed in children's animated television programs. The results indicate that although the overall portrayal of older characters is positive, there were a number of negative mental and physical characteristics used to portray the older characters. These negative characteristics were identical to the characteristics children reported to past researchers when asked to describe older people.