Changing Attitudes towards Ageing and the Aged amongst Psychology Students

Society is ageing. In Europe, the ageing of the population is a recurrent and discussed theme. Portugal is no exception and recent data indicate that the over-65 population is gradually approaching one-fifth of the total population (Instituto Nacional de Estatistica (INE), 2007).Therefore, the graphic representation of the demographic data, usually done through an age pyramid, now presents an inversion with a narrowing of its base and a widening at the top. The impact of the ageing of the population is varied and transversal in different fields.The increase in the number of elderly people implies an increase in the levels of dependence and, consequently, more sanitary, physical and human resources. Also, the number of professionals linked directly or indirectly to the elderly increases according to the increase in the ageing population. Opportunities for the development of professional careers progressively appear and the new demographic panorama demands innovative tasks and services, appealing to the imagination of the professionals to answer the emerging needs. Psychology students can potentially develop their professional careers close to the elderly. The history of psychology close to the elderly is still recent when compared to other disciplines such as social work or nursing. Initial proposals on human development, of which Freud and Piaget are undoubtedly the better known representatives, imposed a restrictive view of development stagnation after adolescence (Vandenplas & Holper, 1998–2000). Starting in the middle of the 20th century, however, new perspectives on the potential of human development emerged, keeping in mind different factors for the promotion of and adaptation to the ageing process, gathered under the common designation of psychology of the life cycle (Baltes & Baltes, 1990; Baltes & Carstensen, 1999; Bengtson, Rice & Johnson, 1999; Fonseca, 2005). At present, psychology of the life cycle is subscribed consensually as one of the preferred ways of understanding the ageing processes, opening a wide field of research and activity. The role to be played by researchers and psychology professionals is progressively increasing. At the level of theoretical models, it is still necessary to answer different questions, among which the understanding of individual factors (biological and psychological) that characterise and differentiate the ageing process. In fieldwork, one highlights issues related to the promotion of the functionality and the adaptation to changes and characteristics of the person who is growing old. Despite the existence of a vast field of work in this area, psychology students’ interest in working with the elderly is generally low. In fact, they do not manifest European Journal of Education, Vol. 44, No. 3, 2009, Part II