April 4-6, 2024 • Hyatt Regency • Lexington, KY
Innovations in Health Communication
Innovations in Health Communication
Abstract: Promoting Social Well-Being for Older Adults: Theorizing and Facilitating Positive Aging Conceptions in Christmas Television
In a 2022 keynote address at the Kentucky Conference on Health Communication, Viswanath (2022) argued that health communication scholars should move to better understand social and psychological well-being. Social wellbeing involves the feeling of being integrated, connected, and believing that one’s work is valued and contributes to society (Keyes, 1998). Feeling that one is valued by society is likely reflected in the stereotypes applied to various social groups, with older adults (OAs) the recipient of less attention and more negative stereotypes such as being warm but less competent than younger adults (Fiske, 2018). Combatting ageist stereotypes in media may contribute to better social well-being for OAs.
Interestingly, while OA characters do not appear regularly in prime time television, they do appear with regularity in Christmas television movies (Kline et al., 2022), depicting Sage, Golden-Ager, and Grandfather positive stereotypes in more scenes as they affirm the positive characteristics of other characters (i.e., engage in positive altercasting). Using multiple goal theory (Clark & Delia, 1979), Kline et al.’s findings suggest that the interactional practice of positive altercasting in character narratives sustains positive identities for OA characters while enabling them to engage in competent behaviors. In this way media narratives may combat aging stereotypes.
In this study we extend this line of reasoning by testing whether other characters’ positive altercasting of OA characters also mediates the relationship between the positive stereotypes OAs may have and the number of scenes that they appear in media narratives. Using multiple goal and attribution theories we hypothesized that characters who positively altercast an OA character are more likely to lead OAs with positive stereotypes to appear in more frequently.
We content analyzed 40 Christmas movies; characters were analyzed for age category, scene frequency, and whether they expressed positive altercasting toward OA characters. OAs were coded Sage, Gold-ager, and Grandparent stereotypes, and their positive altercasting. Each stereotype was positively related to both measures of positive altercasting, and scene frequency.
H1 predicted that positive altercasting by OAs and positive altercasting by others about OAs would both mediate relationships between Sage, Grandparent and Golden-ager stereotypes and frequency of OA appearances. We conducted three mediation analyses with PROCESS model 4 (Hayes, 2018). On a sample of 127 OAs, our hypothesis was not supported for the Golden-Ager and Grandparent stereotypes, as only OA positive altercasting mediated the effect of these stereotypes on OA scene frequency. However, the hypothesis for the Sage stereotype was supported, as positive altercasting by OAs (.43, p < .001) and by other characters about OA characters (.21, p < .05) completely mediated the appearance of the Sage stereotype on OA scene frequency.
We are currently conducting a more fine-grained analysis of positive altercasting practices in these movies that may play a role in teaching and facilitating positive aging conceptions. Thus far, we find that sustaining the positive Sage stereotype in multiple scenes in these movies is bolstered by not just what the OA says and does, but what other characters say about the OA.
Interestingly, while OA characters do not appear regularly in prime time television, they do appear with regularity in Christmas television movies (Kline et al., 2022), depicting Sage, Golden-Ager, and Grandfather positive stereotypes in more scenes as they affirm the positive characteristics of other characters (i.e., engage in positive altercasting). Using multiple goal theory (Clark & Delia, 1979), Kline et al.’s findings suggest that the interactional practice of positive altercasting in character narratives sustains positive identities for OA characters while enabling them to engage in competent behaviors. In this way media narratives may combat aging stereotypes.
In this study we extend this line of reasoning by testing whether other characters’ positive altercasting of OA characters also mediates the relationship between the positive stereotypes OAs may have and the number of scenes that they appear in media narratives. Using multiple goal and attribution theories we hypothesized that characters who positively altercast an OA character are more likely to lead OAs with positive stereotypes to appear in more frequently.
We content analyzed 40 Christmas movies; characters were analyzed for age category, scene frequency, and whether they expressed positive altercasting toward OA characters. OAs were coded Sage, Gold-ager, and Grandparent stereotypes, and their positive altercasting. Each stereotype was positively related to both measures of positive altercasting, and scene frequency.
H1 predicted that positive altercasting by OAs and positive altercasting by others about OAs would both mediate relationships between Sage, Grandparent and Golden-ager stereotypes and frequency of OA appearances. We conducted three mediation analyses with PROCESS model 4 (Hayes, 2018). On a sample of 127 OAs, our hypothesis was not supported for the Golden-Ager and Grandparent stereotypes, as only OA positive altercasting mediated the effect of these stereotypes on OA scene frequency. However, the hypothesis for the Sage stereotype was supported, as positive altercasting by OAs (.43, p < .001) and by other characters about OA characters (.21, p < .05) completely mediated the appearance of the Sage stereotype on OA scene frequency.
We are currently conducting a more fine-grained analysis of positive altercasting practices in these movies that may play a role in teaching and facilitating positive aging conceptions. Thus far, we find that sustaining the positive Sage stereotype in multiple scenes in these movies is bolstered by not just what the OA says and does, but what other characters say about the OA.