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The impact of experiences of ageism on sexual activity and interest in later life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 November 2017

WENDY HEYWOOD ,
VICTOR MINICHIELLO ,
ANTHONY LYONS ,
BIANCA FILEBORN ,
RAFAT HUSSAIN ,
SHARRON HINCHLIFF ,
SUE MALTA ,
CATHERINE BARRETT  and
BRIONY DOW
WENDY HEYWOOD*
Affiliation:
Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
VICTOR MINICHIELLO
Affiliation:
Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Australia. School of Justice, Faculty of Law, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
ANTHONY LYONS
Affiliation:
Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
BIANCA FILEBORN
Affiliation:
School of Social Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
RAFAT HUSSAIN
Affiliation:
ANU Medical School & Centre for Research on Aging, Health & Wellbeing, Research School of Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
SHARRON HINCHLIFF
Affiliation:
School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sheffield, UK.
SUE MALTA
Affiliation:
National Ageing Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia. School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia. Faculty of Health, Arts & Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia.
CATHERINE BARRETT
Affiliation:
The OPAL Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
BRIONY DOW
Affiliation:
National Ageing Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia. School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia.
*
Address for correspondence: Wendy Heywood, Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, 215 Franklin Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia E-mail: w.heywood@latrobe.edu.au
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Abstract

Experiences of ageism are associated with poorer health outcomes. Sexual activity and interest are areas in life where the impact of ageism may also be evident as popular culture often depicts the older body as asexual, undesirable or sexually impotent. We explore the possible links between experiences of ageism and sexual activity/interest in later life using data from a study of Australians aged 60+. We explored characteristics of those who were more likely to have experienced ageism (measured using the Ageism Survey) and the relationships between experiences of ageism and measures of sexual interest/activity in later life (N = 1,817). Experiences of ageism were greater among those without a partner, unemployed participants, those with lower incomes and poorer self-rated health. Adjusting for these differences, experiences of ageism were more likely to be reported by those who had not had sex in the past two years and were not sure about their hopes/plans for sex in the future. Those who reported their sexual interest had increased or decreased since 60 also reported greater levels of ageism experience, as did those who wanted to have sex more frequently in the future. Ageism appears to impact sexual activity and interest in different ways. It is critical that social policy aims to reverse attitudes that reinforce the view of the ageist asexual and unattractive older body or person.

Keywords

sexual healthsexual activityageist attitudesstereotypesinternalisation of stereotypes
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 39 , Issue 4 , April 2019 , pp. 795 - 814
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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