Reframing Aging: Foregrounding Familial and Occupational Roles of Older Adults is Linked to Decreased Ageism Over Two Centuries

As older individuals play instrumental roles in supporting their families and contributing to their workplaces, it is essential to understand how society perceives them in relation to these social roles. This study compares age-based (e.g. senior citizen), familial role-based (e.g. grandmother) and occupational role-based framing (e.g. old(er) doctor) of older adults over 210 years in the United States, and explores the sentiments and narratives associated with each type of framing. We created the largest historical corpus of American English – a 600-million-word-dataset comprising over 150,000 texts and spanning 210 years (1810–2019). Top descriptors (N = 135,659) of nouns related to age (e.g. senior citizen), familial roles (e.g. grandmother) and occupational roles (e.g. old(er) doctor) were compiled and rated for valence (negative-positive) on a 5-point scale. Age-based framing was associated with the most negative portrayals of older adults, specifically a 16% decline over 210 years. Foregrounding their familial roles buffered this negativity and resulted in a 4% decline. Occupational roles were associated with the most positive portrayals of older adults, increasing by 2% over the same period. Our findings underscore the need for society to unlearn any false and harmful beliefs surrounding older adults’ abilities and contributions. We propose a strategy to reframe aging by de-emphasizing age and adopting a role-centric approach.