Ageism is not just about age: Introducing the concept of generalized discrimination experiences

Throughout their social development, people may experience various forms of discrimination. Discrimination research typically analyzes such experiences based on one characteristic, for instance, by isolating age from other characteristics such as gender, race/ethnicity, or financial status. We propose expanding the perspective in discrimination research by examining how discrimination across multiple dimensions is interlinked, resulting in what we call generalized discrimination experiences. Focusing on age specifically, recent research has shown that in highly modernized societies, teenagers and young adults report more age discrimination than do older adults. We hypothesized that younger people are particularly affected by generalized discrimination. By contrast, discrimination toward older adults may be more age-specific. This perspective helps reconcile conflicting views on ageism in the literature. To test the hypothesis of generalized discrimination experiences, we analyzed survey data collected in the United Kingdom (N > 14,000, ages 18–93, with diverse ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a one-factor model of generalized discrimination across domains: discrimination based on age, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, health/disability, and financial situation (comparative fit index = .994; root mean square error of approximation = .030). Structural equation modeling then distinguished generalized from age-specific discrimination, showing that younger respondents reported substantially more generalized discrimination experiences, whereas older respondents reported more age-specific discrimination (comparative fit index = .996; root mean square error of approximation = .014). We also found that older adults reported generalized discrimination experiences primarily if they had lower social status. We conclude that discrimination research will benefit from an awareness of how multiple forms of discrimination can converge into generalized discrimination experiences.