A comparison of self-perception of the elderly with perception of others

This descriptive correlational study explored perceptions of young elderly stimulus persons of themselves as individuals and as a group; familiar others' perceptions of the young elderly as individual stimulus persons and as a group; the relationship between self perception in the young elderly and perception of those young elderly stimulus persons by familiar others; and variables relating to these perceptions. The conceptual framework for this study was based upon Warr and Knapper's (1968) person perception model.;To answer the research questions, the convenience sample of 100 elderly stimulus person/identified familiar other dyads completed Demographic Information Sheets, copies of a semantic differential Age Perception Scale, and Age Perception Attachments.;Overall findings indicate that ninety-five percent of the elderly stimulus persons perceived themselves positively as individuals, while seventy-two percent positively perceived the elderly as a general group. Seventy-five percent of elderly stimulus persons felt physically younger than actual chronological age, while seventy-one percent felt mentally younger than actual age. Significant predictors of self perception included difference score between actual and felt physical age and level of education, accounting for 21.3 percent of the variance. The only significant predictor of perception of the general group was elderly self perception, accounting for 11 percent of the variance.;Ninety-four percent of familiar others perceived elderly stimulus persons positively as individuals, while seventy-two percent positively perceived the elderly as a general group. Eighty-three percent of familiar others perceived elderly stimulus persons to be physically younger than actual chronological age, while eighty-five percent of familiar others perceived elderly stimulus persons as mentally younger than actual age. Significant predictors of familiar others' perception of individual elderly stimulus persons included difference score for perceived mental age, difference score for perceived physical age, and self perception by elderly stimulus persons, accounting for 39.1 percent of the variance. No significant predictors of perception of the elderly as a general group were identified. Elderly self perception and perception by others; felt and perceived physical age; and felt and perceived mental age were found to be positively correlated.