Ageism is the stereotyping of older adults based on
chronological age. It is a form of prejudice and discrimination
similar to racism and sexism, which allows younger generations
to view older adults as separate from mainstream society.
Ageist language and imagery often leads to stereotypes of
older adults as weak, frail and disabled. In contrast, there
are also positive stereotypes of aging, when people assume
that all older adults are wise or caring. Ageism includes
prejudice (stereotypes and attitudes), personal discrimination
(behaviours), and institutional discrimination (policies and
practices). The Relating to Older People Evaluation (ROPE)
is a self-report measure of the frequency and type of ageist
behaviors. ROPE is a 20-item questionnaire that measures
personal discrimination through 14 statements that reflect
negative types of ageism, and 6 statements that reflect
positive types of ageism.