Open-mindedness and its Association with Attitudes and Knowledge Towards Elder Sexuality

Abstract

The present study examines the association between open-mindedness, attitude towards older persons, and attitude and knowledge towards elder sexuality. It is hypothesized that young people who are more open-minded would have more favorable attitudes towards older persons and elder sexuality, and possess more accurate knowledge of elderly sexuality. Two hundred and four social work students responded to the Open-mindedness subscale from the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), the Kogan‘s Attitudes toward Old People (KAOP), and the Aging Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale (ASKAS). Results of the Pearson correlation analysis showed that students who were more openminded demonstrated more positive attitudes towards older persons (r = 0.16), more positive attitudes towards elderly sexuality (r = 0.24) and more accurate knowledge of elderly sexuality (r = 0.20).