The Situation of Ageism

From Princeton News, an overview of important work being done by Michael North and Situationist friend, Susan Fiske. Michael North, a fifth-year graduate student in psychology at Princeton University, knew he was lucky to land a summer research position at the University of Michigan after he finished his bachelor’s degree there in 2006. His task: Sit in a lab for two hours at a time and interview local residents — young and old — for a study on wisdom. “When the professor told me this, I nodded and said OK, but as a 22-year-old kid I wasn’t really excited about sitting in a basement interviewing old people, as I saw them,” North said. “I thought they would be really boring. I thought they would smell. I thought they would make me feel weird. These were the thoughts I had, honestly.” But the reality was different. North found that he enjoyed interacting with the older group more than the younger people. “The older people were the ones who showed more interest in the project, they showed more interest in me personally and asked more interesting questions,” North said. The realization opened his eyes to a field ripe for exploration. A focus on ageism research North came to Princeton in 2008 and joined the lab of Susan Fiske, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology and a professor of psychology and public affairs. Together, they have put a new emphasis on ageism, or age-based prejudice, focusing on the challenges society face...
Source: The Situationist - Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Tags: Distribution Life Social Psychology Video Source Type: blogs