Age Identity and Social Exclusion of Older Persons: A Psychosocial Perspective

The psychosocial model of social exclusion postulates that age identity of older persons induce and sustain perceived and enacted discrimination, resulting in psychosocial disability and social exclusion. These propositions were tested by using a cross-sectional survey of 573 older persons, aged 65 years and above. The variables were measured by standardized rating scales. The results reveal age identity significantly influenced perceived (β =.762; p <.001), enacted discrimination (β =.514; p <.001), psychosocial disability (β =.588; p <.001) and social exclusion (β =.389; p <.001). Perceived discrimination significantly increased enacted discrimination (β =.314; p <.001) and enacted discrimination influenced psychosocial disability (β =.279; p <.001) and psychosocial disability increased social exclusion (β =.090; p <.05). Perceived discrimination significantly mediated the negative effect of age identity on enacted discrimination (b =.211; p <.001), psychosocial disability (b =.219; p <.001) and social exclusion (b =.073; p <.05). The conceptual model showed good data model-fit, giving evidence to conclude that this model was useful in explaining process and outcomes of social exclusion of older persons.