Knowledge of Aging Among Clergy

A standard Facts on Aging Quiz was administered to 140 ordained ministers representing five Protestant denominations as well as Catholics and Jews. Their mean score reflected an accuracy rate of 66 percent, while a subscore indicated a high pro-aging bias. A comparison reveals clergy's level of knowledge of aging is no better than that of a criterion group of undergraduates. There is a suggestion clergy's high pro-aging bias may be unrealistic and thus militate against effective intervention on behalf of the elderly.