ECREA16-Abstract

Saturday, November 12

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Media and Healthy Ageing

C.L. Christensen

Copenhagen University, Department of Media- Cognition and Communication, Copenhagen S., Denmark

Notions of old age and ageing are changing. Elderly people are expected to live an active life and pursue a healthy lifestyle in order to enhance their

quality of life. Increasingly active ageing means an individual responsibility for being healthy and active and it is inextricably linked to the prominence and

importance of health issues in the media. To many people mediated knowledge on health is the most important source of knowledge on health (Lupton

1999; Kline 2006). Sociologist of ageing, Paul Higgs, characterizes health as one of the most dominant discourses of later life operating as an absolute driver

in the construction of ageing lifestyle and identity formation, or as he puts it: “’the will to health’: it suggests that health has become a required goal for

individual behavior and has become synonymous with health itself”(Higgs 2009: 687). In other words, health implies reflection on how to actively behave

in a healthy way. The media offer a reservoir of information, knowledge, suggestions, advices and helpful hints oriented at the individual health promotion

work and the question is whether such mediated opportunities for both adjusting and optimizing the relation between individual lifestyle and health con‑

tribute to the health and wellbeing of elderly people. This paper examines elderly people’s experiences and use of media for information on health issues

concerning their own life. The study is based on twenty qualitative interviews conducted in 2015 with Danish men and women, age 65+, with different

educational qualifications and with different economic and social resources. The analysis focuses on the specific role of the media in elderly people’s life

regarding how media influence their notions of health. Research questions are: How do elderly people experience a healthy old age and how do the media

affect elderly people’s efforts to get a good and meaningful life as ageing people? The study indicates that (also) elderly people are confused and struggle

with often conflicting views and inconsistent health information. Thus, an important part of the study is the question of trust. How do elderly people use

and make sense of health issues in the media – and do they trust the media? Generally, the paper contributes to the internationally important discussions

of what health in old age is and to evaluate whether the increased media opportunities for seeking information on health enhance elderly people’s health

and quality of life. References: Higgs, P. et al. (2009: ”Not just old and sick – the ‘will to health’ in later life”, Age and Society 29(5), 687–707. Kline, K. N.

(2006): “A decade of research on health content in the media: The focus on health challenges and sociocultural context and attendant informational and

ideological problems”, in Journal of Health Communication 11, p. 43–59. Lupton, D. 1999: ”Health, illness and medicine in the media”, Health, Vol 3 (3), p.

259–262. London: Sage.

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"69 Is More Than a Number to Me": Sex-Related Humor in Seniors' Online Communities

G. Nimrod

, L. Berdychevsky

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Department of Communication Studies, Beer Sheva, Israel

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Recreation- Sport and Tourism, Urbana-Champaign, USA

Among the many new possibilities that the cybernetic revolution provided for seniors, online communities that are dedicated to older adults seem to be well

accepted and thriving. One of the main features characterizing these communities is having a most vibrant fun culture. Hence, the most active discussions

are those containing social games, jokes and funny stories (1

author, 2010). A study that explored that cyber-culture revealed that the most dominant

subject in all contents was sex (1

author, 2011). Given the societal ageist perceptions of older people as asexual (cf. Lai & Hynie, 2011; Taylor & Gosney,

2011), the present study aimed to examine how older adults are portrayed in the sex-related humor posted in seniors’ online communities, and whether

these portrayals reflect self-ageism (i.e., surrender to social stereotypes), or, conversely, demonstrate an anti-ageism approach (i.e., resistance to social

stereotypes). The study was based on quantitative content analysis of 300 humorous sex-related messages posted in online communities for seniors. Posts

were derived from an existing database of sex-related messages posted by members of 14 leading English-language based communities during one full

year (Authors, 2015). After creating a codebook and testing its reliability, the entire dataset was coded classifying the humor types and thematic domains.

Then, the coded data were statistically analyzed using descriptive statistics, such as frequencies, Cross-tabulations and Chi-square tests. The analysis led to

identifying four humor types: 'I humor' (post author is the humor target), 'We humor' (community members are the target), 'They humor – old' (other older

individuals are the target), and 'They humor – not old'. Almost half of the posts were included in the latter category, while the rest were split among the first

three. A comparison of the extent of ageism in the three humor-types that focused on older adults as targets showed significant differences. Specifically,

anti-ageist approaches were dominant in the 'I humor' and 'We humor' categories, whereas in the 'They humor – old' category the majority of the posts

were ageist. Comparing the frequencies of various thematic humor domains in the 'They humor – not old' category to the rest of the dataset revealed no

significant differences with regard to 'sexual dysfunction,' 'cognitive dysfunction,' 'conservatism' and 'unattractiveness' domains. Moreover, the non-old

characters were presented as significantly less interested in sex, more socially dysfunctional, and more ignorant regarding sex than the older individuals.

The sole ageist stereotype that was more frequent in posts referring to old characters was 'physical dysfunction'. These findings suggest that members

of seniors' online communities use sex-related humor to fight ageism, applying two main strategies: 1. Distancing – ascribing ageist stereotypes to other

older adults (i.e., out-group), but to a lesser extent to the community members and/or oneself (i.e., in-group). 2. Equalizing – creating a similarity and even

advantage of older people over non-old individuals. Applying these strategies, whether intentionally or not, may reflect a coping mechanism that helps

older persons resist ageist societal perceptions and embrace their own sexuality.