Self-Assessment
In this section we have provided you with a series of questions that you may find useful in checking understanding of some of the key messages and points. There are 10 questions in this self-assessment section.
1. Age discrimination is always discriminatory in a negative sense.
The correct answer is False.
Differential treatment may be based on actual evidence of age-related differences which would justify it - for example, legislation to protect vulnerable children. This is mentioned in Section 2 Age differentiation and age discrimination.
The correct answer is True.
This is mentioned in Section 2, Age differentiation and age discrimination
The correct answer is False.
Ageism operates against people of all ages; young people are subject to ageism too. This is mentioned in Section 3, Understanding ageism.
4. A recent major survey found that ageism was the most common form of discrimination.
The correct answer is True.
According to a major survey in 2005, 29% of adults of all ages reported experience of age discrimination compared to 24% who mentioned gender, the next most common form. This was mentioned in Section 3, Understanding ageism.
5. The three main aspects of ageism which can be found in most definitions are prejudicial attitudes, discriminatory practices, and institutionalised policies and practices that perpetuate stereotypes.
The correct answer is True.
This is mentioned in Section 3, Understanding ageism.
The correct answer is False.
Older people are stereotyped as 'warm but incompetent', rather than through hostile images. This is mentioned in Section 3, Understanding ageism.
7. We should celebrate examples of 'anti-ageist positivism' because they help to combat ageism.
The correct answer is False.
'Anti-ageist positivism' is simply ageism's reverse image. It replaces one stereotype about older people's universal incompetence with another about older people's universal competence. This is mentioned in Section 3, Understanding ageism.
8. Early discharge without support services is an example of indirect age discrimination.
The correct answer is True.
This is because early discharge impacts particularly on older people because a significant proportion of older people live alone. This is mentioned in Section 4, Ageism in health and social care.
9.Generally, discrimination against older people is caused by an intention to discriminate.
The correct answer is False.
Discrimination against older people is generally caused less by an intention to discriminate and be unfair than through ignorance of their needs. This is mentioned in Section 4, Ageism in health and social care.
The correct answer is True.
Later life exclusion may follow from the experience of exclusion in mid-life, often triggered by a key life event (bereavement, redundancy, mental illness) and forming a cycle of decline from which it is difficult to escape. This is mentioned in Section 5, Social Exclusion.