Reactions to ageing among Australian psychologists

Objective: To assess attitudes towards personal ageing among Australian psychologists. Methods: Six hundred and four practising psychologists were surveyed using the Reactions to Ageing Questionnaire (RAQ). Potential predictors of attitudes to ageing, such as age, gender and number of years in clinical practice were examined, together with the amount and quality of contact with older family members and older friends. Measures related to the training of psychologists were also of interest. Results: The strongest significant predictors of attitudes to ageing were respondents’ age and positive attitudes towards conducting therapy with older clients. Contact and training variables were not associated with scores on the RAQ. Conclusion: These results highlight age as a contributing factor in attitude formation.