Social Psychology in an Ageing World: Ageism and Intergenerational Relations

In many countries, individuals are living longer and the population is ageing. The advent of ageing societies will lead to various social changes, reconstruct beliefs about ageing, and affect the life-style of individuals. One of the challenges of ageing societies for social psychology is the undertaking of research that is more gerontologically sensitive. The paper reviews studies on attitudes and stereotypes towards older adults, as well as intergenerational conflict and communication. In doing so it highlights the roles of social communicative, intergroup and power processes, and concludes with the call for a life-span approach to theoretical development.