title: Support for aging policy: Self-interest, social justice, and political symbols.
abstract: This article explores and evaluates theoretical assumptions implied by the familiar hypothesis that anti-elderly scapegoating rhetoric is producing attitude change with respect to citizen support for aging policy. An explanation-the self-interest model-that is consistent with both this hypothesis and existing attitude theory is presented. It is contrasted with a second hypothesis emphasizing the role played by symbolic political attitudes in the formation of citizen policy positions. Survey data from the state of Kansas indicate no support for either the self-interest explanation of aging policy attitudes or for the hypothesized impact of anti-elderly rhetoric.
authors.affiliation: Kansas State University, USA.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Franke