The Paths Leading From Attachment to Ageism

The study introduces a model in which attachment patterns serve as predictors, empathy and fear of death as mediators, and ageism as the predicted variable. Data were collected from young adults (N=440). Anxious attachment was directly and positively correlated with ageism, and also indirectly and positively by the mediator "fear of death." Avoidant attachment was indirectly and negatively correlated with ageism by the mediator "empathy". It is suggested that interventions for reducing ageist attitudes among younger adults would focus on existential fears, as well as on empathic ability, according to the attachment tendencies of these individuals.