Image of old age and authority of the elderly in the opinion of young people, taking into account sociodemographic factors

Background. The elderly are a group diversified with regard to age, health and wealth, which considerably contributes to the social and economical life of the society. In the opinion of young people, positive aspects of old age are often overlooked or weakly emphasized. Perception of the elderly is conditioned by cultural and social premises. Elderly people are very rarely positively presented: as active and well-educated, creative, competent and fit. It is advisable to change such notion of elderly people. Objectives. To identify the image of old age and the authority of the elderly in the opinion of young people, taking into account sociodemographic factors. Material and methods. The study covered 360 students studying in Sanok. The method used was a diagnostic survey and a questionnaire. In the statistical analysis – V Cramer, φ and χ2 tests were used, assuming the significance level p < 0.05. Results. Positive associations with old age in the opinion of the respondents are life experience, worldly wisdom and care for the family. Most of the youth stated that the authority of the elderly in society is average. Associations of old age and the authority of older people in society were differentiated by the sex of the respondents and by the type of school they attended. Place of residence had no influence on the image of old age and the authority of the elderly in the opinion