JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Ageist beliefs tend to take root in one’s formative years and persist into adulthood. As future older adults, children must be instilled with more positive attitudes towards aging. Despite being a critical medium for analyzing age stereotypes, nursery rhymes have evaded the attention of the gerontological community. Previous research focuses predominantly on stereotypes held by children or on age stereotypes that proliferate in children’s storybooks. An analysis of nursery rhymes can facilitate an understanding of the ways in which age stereotypes held by children are perpetuated or subverted by these cultural artifacts.

Objective:

To gain insight into the ways in which children are being socialized to view old age, this study examines the depictions of old age in nursery rhymes. Our content analysis of nursery rhymes is grounded in the following research questions: What are the prevailing stereotypes associated with old age in nursery rhymes? Are these stereotypes primarily positive or negative? How are older characters being treated in the nursery rhymes? Insights from this study can provide insights that inform interventions to counteract negative portrayals of old age in nursery rhymes, thus paving the way for a more age-friendly society.

Methods:

To create a comprehensive dataset of nursery rhymes, we gathered material from four websites: BBC Nursery Rhymes and Songs, the Nursery Rhyme Collections, All Nursery Rhymes and NurseryRhymes.org. A web-ingestion tool was used to compile the dataset. In total, 735 unique nursery rhymes were retrieved. To identify rhymes related to old age, we conducted a search using various age-related terms (e.g., old, elder, grandfather, grandma). This search yielded a total of 85 nursery rhymes. Upon applying our exclusion criteria (e.g., we removed rhymes where ‘old’ was used to refer to old buildings), 34 rhymes were retained. Both inductive and deductive approaches guided our qualitative content analysis.

Results:

Old age was mentioned in 5% (N=34) of the 735 nursery rhymes. Among the rhymes retained for analysis, 50% contained negative age stereotypes. The remaining rhymes featured about an equal mix of positive (26%) and neutral age stereotypes (24%). Examples of negative stereotypes include being frail, mentally impaired, unkempt, incompetent and uncooperative. Examples of positive stereotypes include being wise, intelligent, affectionate, nurturing and joyful.

Conclusions:

In the context of an aging population, it is paramount that society is led by people who embrace a less pessimistic outlook of aging. Although nursery rhymes may seem like mere tales not to be taken seriously, they nonetheless remain powerful tools capable of molding thought processes. Our study sets the stage for telling children accurate and nuanced stories about older adults to inculcate healthy attitudes towards aging.