Open AccessPublic opinion on age stereotypes during the COVID-19 pandemic
Author(s) -
Gabriella Sandstig
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international crisis and risk communication conference
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2576-9111
DOI - 10.30658/icrcc.2021.07
Subject(s) - stereotype (uml) , pandemic , social distance , psychology , public opinion , stereotype threat , social psychology , population , distancing , covid-19 , sample (material) , cognition , news media , demography , sociology , political science , medicine , media studies , politics , law , disease , pathology , neuroscience , infectious disease (medical specialty) , chemistry , chromatography
The news media can both mirror age stereotypes held by the public, as well as contribute to constructing or amplifying them. The first risk group identified in the pandemic was older adults. They are generally not so visible in the media, but during the pandemic, they were in focus. This study analyses to what extent the public agrees with age stereotypes during the COVID-19 pandemic and what characterizes the groups that hold them. Survey data from 04/14/20-06/28/20 on a national sample (6000) of the population of Sweden is used. The results, contrary to the expectation that stereotypes of older adults should dominate the public opinion, rather the stereotype of younger people not distancing themselves enough is the most common. However, the corresponding stereotype of older adults not doing the same is the second most common. In a non-crises situation, the most common stereotype of older adults is that they have poor cognitive abilities. However, this stereotype is rare during the pandemic. The characteristic of the group that agree with the stereotypes are that they are young rather than old. There are also differences by gender, education and residential area, but they vary depending on the specific age stereotype in question.