Young People's Perception of the Elderly and its Likely Impact on Healthcare Delivery Service

Individualism and Collectivism

Triandis and Bhawuk(1997), Based on Triandis and others’ previous works, suggested the following as universal dimensions for individualism and collectivism: a. Definition of self: Individualists view self as autonomous from groups. They do not feel obligated to share resources but Collectivists do (Markus & Kitayama 1991;Reykowski1994)[6, 7]. b. Structure of goals: In individualist cultures, an individual’s goals relate to those of the in-group whereas in collectivist cultures, the individual’s goals are subsumed within that of the in-group (Triandis 1988; Shwartz 1992, 1994). Triandis(1994) defined the in-group as “sets of individuals with whom a person feels similar” (p. 43). In general, collectivist in- groups are ascribed (e.g., caste, kin, caste, race, tribute, religion, village, nation) where as individual is tin-groups are achieved (e.g., similar beliefs, attitudes, values, actions, programs, occupations) [8, 9, 10, 11]. c. Emphasis on norms versus attitudes: In individualist cultures attitudes, personal needs, perceived rights, and contracts determine social behavior norms; in collectivist cultures duties and obligations determine social behavior instead (Miller 1984, 1994; Davidson et al.1976) [12, 13, 14]. d. Emphasis on relatedness versus rationality: In individualist cultures, rationality is emphasized but in collectivist cultures relatedness is most important. In rationality emphasisis on costs/benefits of relationships, but in relatedness, priority is on relationships even if not to the person’s advantage (Kim et al.1994) [15]. Due to the influences of globalization, however, the individualism and collectivism dichotomy is not so clear cut between developed and developing societies. For example, Eyetsemitan, et al (2002) identified in developing societies, the following three environmental dimensions: Global, Developed (Western) and Developing (non-Western). Acculturation patterns could occur between an individual and any one or more of these dimensions. For example, a person can embrace western values only; another person non-western values only; and yet another, both western and non-western values combined. Furthermore s/he can exhibit those values either consistently or situationally [16]. According to Hofstede(2001), According to both the U.S. and Ireland would fit into individualist cultures while Nigeria and Brazil would fall under collectivist cultures (but with exposure to Westernization influences, cf. Eyetsemitan et al, 2002) [16]. As individualists, young people in the U.S.A. and Ireland are likely to have care dispositions toward elderly persons based on rationality and cost/benefit values. Conversely, as collectivists young people in Nigeria and Brazil are likely to exhibit care dispositions to ward elderly persons (cf.Triandis & Bhawuk 1997) governed by norms, duties, and obligations. With western acculturation influences, as stated earlier it is hard to make a strict dichotomy between individualist and collectivist cultures [17, 18].

Materials

The material was a 12-item questionnaire that included background information like institution, age, sex, and whether respondents had previously helped the elderly or Also, the questionnaire requested the respondents to list (in order of importance) elderly behavior traits that they perceived as “unattractive”. Respondents were also to rate their tendencies to not help their elderly parents and the elderly persons who are not their parents, based on the unattractive traits. Based on a Likert scale of 1 (strongly agree) to5 (strongly disagree) participants responded to the statements: “These behavior traits can prevent me from wanting to help my elderly parents” and “These behavior traits can prevent me from wanting to help an elderly person.

Procedure

Only the first “unattractive” trait was able to be analyzed due to the unequal number of traitst h a t e a c h r e s p o n d e n t c a m e u p w i t h . Not all the respondents came up with five “unattractive” traits. From a qualitative analysis of “unattractive” traits (based on agreement between the author and his research assistant), three broad categories emerged: Personal, Interpersonal, and Need (seeTable1).A fourth category, Supernatural, was too negligible for analysis. These are loose categories as some items could fit into more than one category. The Personal traits were made up of those traits that describe the elderly as a person; the Interpersonal traits describes the relationship that elderly people have with the younger generation (and with their peers); and the Need traits describes the deficiencies that elderly person shave (e.g., physical).The table below shows for each country, the number of respondents and the percentages of respondents for each trait category identified.

The U.S.A. sample was collected by the author by administering the questionnaire to his students in a small mid-western college, while his associate shelped with data collect ion in the other countries by administering the same questionnaire to their respective students. The Nigerian sample comprised of students from an urban university located in the northern part of the country; the Irish sample comprised of students also from an urban university located on neither the northern part of that country, while the Brazilian sample from drawn from a university located in alargecity. Undergraduates, given their shared background in formal education, make an ideal population for cross- cultural comparisons. In all of the countries except Brazil, the questionnaire was administered in English. In Brazil, however, the not. Th e understanding and type of help was left to the respondents’ interpretation, as help could vary from society to society. At least “help” indicated doing something positive for the elderly in the past.

questionnaire was translated from English to Portuguese and then back-translated to English by the collaborating instructor and her graduate student, and then an agreement was reached between them as to the accurate Portuguese version. The questionnaire had a brief description of the nature of the study, and respondents were informed that their names were not required and that they should feel free to not respond to any or all of the questions.

Results

With no significant difference, young people in both collectivist cultures and individualist cultures, reported that “unattractive” traits could prevent them from wanting to help elderly persons (Developing Countries: Mean = 2.73; SD = 1.22; Developed Countries: Mean=2.75; SD=1.34; t=0.137; df= 643.98; P= 0.891). But, in wanting to helped elderly parents, “unattractive” traits could not prevent respondents in both developing and developed countries; also with no significant differences (Developing Countries: Mean = 3.74; SD= 1.23; Developing Countries: Mean= 3.84; SD= 1.27; t= 1.03; df= 611.112; P= 0.302).

Discussions and Conclusions

Respondents from both developing and developed societies, all agreed that “unattractive” traits could prevent them from wanting to help elderly persons, but not elderly parents. While in developing societies (collectivist cultures) helping parents might beseenasan obligation, in developed societies (individualist cultures) it might be more of voluntarily rendering help tone ’sin-group member without an obligation. Unfortunately, the reasoning behind young peoples’ kind dispositions toward their parents despite the perceived negative traits, were not explored but assumed. Future studies should be done to explore this. For elderly persons (not parents), however, “unattractive” traits could prevent young people from wanting to help them, in both collectivist and individualist cultures. While this was expected in developed societies (with individualist tendencies), this represents a shift for young people in developing societies (collectivist cultures) Eyetsemitan F. Young People’s Perception of the Elderly and its Likely Impact on Healthcare Delivery Service. Psychol Pshycholgy Res Int J 2017, 2(2): 000121.

where norm sand relatedness and respect for the elderly are valued (cf. Triandis 1994) [11]. Again, further studies are required. With acculturation influences, young people in developing societies may be embracing Western values of rationality and cost/benefit analysis in social relationships. Future studies should also provide respondents with different scenarios: While “unattractive” traits could prevent a helping tendency in one situation, they may not in another. Furthermore, not all “unattractive” elderly traits might have the same strengths to prevent helping tendencies. Also, young people’s commitment to working with elderly persons in the healthcare delivery industry should not be measured by turnovers only. Other indices of commitment should be taken into consideration as well e.g., absenteeism, tardiness, productivity levels and quality and calling in sick. With Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behavior (TPB), both Intention (influenced by attitudes, subjective values and cultural norms) and perceived behavioral control (PBC) (e.g., resources and ability to help) do determine behavior [3]. But, as noted earlier, Intention and PBC can run at cross purposes to not determine behavior. This study provides an important step for future studies to explore the saliency of unattractive elderly traits that could impede helping behaviors; and the circumstances under which it would happen. Also, how unattractive elderly traits have impacted on employed young people in the healthcare delivery service industry.

Copyright© Eyetsemitan F.

Acknowledgement

The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Angela Biaggio, James Gire, Titus Oshagbemi (with data collection) and Tami Eggleston (with data management).