兒童의 老人에 대한 態度 : - 5才에서 11才 兒童을 對象으로 - A Study of Children through the Ages 5 and 11 = Children's Attitudes Toward the Elderly

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The main purpose of this study was to assess the attitudes of Korean children of the ages 5 through 11 toward the elderly and aging. In addition, the study intended to examine whether there were significant relationships between children's attitudes and four variables, e. g. , age(grade), location of residence, family structure and sex.
The subjects for the study included 480 boys and girls in kindergarten, 2nd, 4th, and 6th grades. In sampling the subjects, equal numbers were randomly drawn from kindergartens and elementary schools in Seoul as well as in rural areas, and from extended families as well as nuclear families for each grade level.
The instruments for this study were the translated and modified version of the CATE (Children's Attitudes Toward the Elderly) developed by Jantz and others(1976). Three of the four original sub-tests were used for this study: they were the Word Association Test, the Semantic Differential, and the Picture Series Test.
The Korean version of the CATE was pilot-tested with 20 kindergarten children and 33 third graders. Data were collected for the study by 5 trained graduate students during June 20 through July 15, 1980. Children in kindergarten and 2nd grade were individually interviewed, while 4th and 6th grade children were administered questionnaires which they filled in themselves.
The responses for most open-ended items were analyzed by content categories, and 1-5 point scores were assigned for items in the Semantic Differential, with 5 being the most positive. Chi-squre was used to test the significance of association on the categorized data, and 1.test was used to test the significance of mean scores of the Semantic Differential.
The results obtained from the study were as follows:
1. In general, Korean children between the ages 5∼11 knew whom we were talking about when we mentioned old people. For example, 51% of the children picked out the oldest person among 4 pictures, and 73% could provide an alternate name for old people.
2. However, the knowledge about the elderly was significantly different at each grade level. Children in kindergarten showed very limited knowledge in indicating an old person outside the family (33%), giving an alternate name (547), and estimating the ages of 4 persons in the picture. But children in higher grades showed increasingly detailed and accurate knowledge of the elderly.
3. Children have both positive and negative attitudes toward the elderly. Children's feelings toward old people were positive, but descriptions of physical attributes of the eldery tended to be more negative. Positive characteristics of old people viewed by children were "good, friendly, and right", while negative aspects were "sick, sad, and ugly·"
4. Given a choice, children preferred to be with young people, and only 11% chose the oldest person among the 4 pictures presented. The most important reason for choosing a person was significantly associated with the picture chosen, the youngest picture being associated with age-related reasons, and the oldest picture, with altruistic reasons. Also, the average rating for old people was significantly different from that for young people, the latter being more positive.
5. Children's contact with the elderly was generally limited to the family structures especially for those who were young and from nuclear families. However, they seem to have had various activities with the elderly. The activities they reported were active (41%), passive (17%), and helping (14%) in nature.
6. Most children did not perceive their own aging as positive. About 65% reported negative attitudes such that "It is sad", "I won't be old."
7. There was a significant association between age (grade) and children's knowledge or feelings about the elderly. As age increased, children's feelings on physical aspects of old people tended to be negative. Also, children in kindergarten chose more young person of the 4 pictures.
8. Location of residence was significantly related with children's knowledge and feelings about the elderly. City children showed higher knowledge level, while rural children indicated more positive attitudes. City children chose pictures of the middle ages more than the extreme ages.
9. Family structure was not significantly associated with many items except the contacts and activities children have with the elderly. It was found that children from extended families do more passive things together.
10. Sex was significantly associated with various aspects of children's attitude, such as perceptions of their own aging, their feelings about behavior of old people, and activities for helping old people. Boys were more positive about their own aging and more frequently involved in helping jobs for the elderdly. However, girls were more positive about behavioral aspects of the elderly.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ. 緖論
• Ⅱ. 硏究方法
• 1. 對象選定
• 2. 道具選定
• 3. 節次
• Ⅲ. 結果 및 論議
• 1. 單語聯想檢査
• 2. 意味分析尺度
• 3. 寫眞系列檢査
• Ⅳ. 結論 및 提言
• 參考文獻