你怕變老嗎？－年輕族群對老化的概念、意向與成因

隨著我國老人人口數與國民平均壽命的增加，民眾將要面對的是漫長的高齡長壽生活。然而人們是否害怕「變老」呢？對於「老化」到底存在著怎樣的概念和看法？相關研究指出，越是年輕的族群，越是具有老年恐慌的現象，但隨著年齡的增長，越是認為老化是人生必經的歷程。因此，本研究採取質性研究的取向，訪談10位20歲至40歲的年輕族群，主要研究結果包括：一、年輕族群對於老化的生理層面，持有較負面的概念；二、年輕族群對於老化的心理層面，其概念呈現出兩極化的差異；三、年輕族群對於老化的社會層面，傾向較正面的概念；四、形成老化概念與意向的原因，最主要與家人的影響有關；五、年輕族群大多還未開始為老年生活做規劃與準備。

關鍵字

老化；老化概念；老化意向

並列摘要

With the increasing of aging people and longer lifespan and aging, we face a problem: How do we deal with the seeming long life in the old age? This phenomenon tells us the coming of an aging world. Obviously, people present and future seem to enjoy a longer life than any generation in the past. However, how do people live the long-lasting life? Aging is a phase with the decline and loss of physical functions and poor health. Moreover, young generations may have a bias against aging, regarding old people as a weak, old-fashioned, and non-negotiable. Based on this phenomenon, this study aims at exploring the concept and image of aging from the perspective of young adults. This study adopts semi-structured interview of qualitative study as the study method, and interviews with 10 various participants aged between 20 and 40 in the manner of purposive sampling. This study finds that: (A) Young generations tend to have a rather negative concept of physical aging; (B) Young generations hold polarized attitudes towards the concept of psychological aging; (C) Young generations seem to hold a rather positive attitude towards the concept of social aging; (D) The causes of aging image is influenced by family; (E) Most young adults haven’t prepared for their aging life.