ABSTRACT
The increasing preoccupation in social gerontology with positive aging, then, arises out of the critical belief that we live in an ageist society, one in which the predominant attitude towards older people is coloured by a negative mixture of, pity, fear, disgust, condescension, and neglect (Biggs, 1989; Scrutton, 1990). Ageism is not only seen as the source of a widespread discrimination against older people but also as a crucial factor in undermining their ‘personal value and worth’ (Scrutton, 1990:13). In Britain, for example, the popular textbook by Anthea Tinker, Elderly People in Modern Society, endorses the appeal for ‘positive thinking’ about aging and old age in a context where, she argues, a great deal of the discussion of this subject is ‘inappropriately negative, pessimistic and too often couched in crisis terms’ (1992:9).
