Age and sex as indicators of social status : perceptions of mature Victorians
Date
1985
Authors
Graham, Ian Douglas
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Abstract
In the theoretical writing in social gerontology, little has been written from a lifespan perspective on the nature and extent to which the age and sex of individuals influence the amount of social status accorded to them by others. With the exception of Baker's recent research on age, sex and social status, this theoretical writing in the literature has yet to be subjected to empirical testing.
This study is a replication of Baker's 1983 and 1985 studies. However, where Baker examined the amount of social status university students accorded stimulus profiles of various ages and sex, this research examined the amount of social status mature individuals accorded Baker's stimulus profiles.
In keeping with Baker's work, a factorial survey analysis (FSA) methodology was employed to measure the "status" respondents accorded the stimulus profiles. Baker's interview schedule along with additional questions concerned with respondents' demographic characteristics was administered to a convenience sample of 201 mature Victorians ranging in age from 45 to 92. The data were gathered by means of face-to-face structured interviews. The statistical analysis for this study consisted of performing either T-tests or one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the mean status ratings of the various stimulus profiles.
The major findings of this study suggest that of those mature people studied, accorded social class was perceived to increase from childhood through middle age and then decline until age 80 whereupon the decline in status stopped and reversed, leaving the 100-year-old profiles with higher status than the 80-year-old profiles. The sample also believed there to be significant gender differences in accorded status. In fact, they perceived status over the lifespan to take the shape of two inverted "U" curves, with a curve for males significantly higher in status than the curve for females at ages 50, 65, and 70. Further analysis indicated that the respondent characteristics of sex, age, marital status, and social status were not related to respondents' perceptions of status.
In so far as two so very diverse samples (mature Victorians and Baker's university students) displayed similar perceptions of status, it was concluded that this study also provided additional support for Baker's claim that status perceptions based on age and sex universal in our culture.