Attitudes of Traditional and Nontraditional Students toward Their Classmates of Various Ages

Abstract

430 Cameron University students indicated the extent to which they agreed with 20 statements concerning attitudes toward older and younger students. A principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation indicated three underlying dimensions with statements favoring (1) younger students, (2) age diversity, and (3) older students. A 2 (traditional vs nontraditional students) × 2 (sex) between-subjects multivariate analysis of variance was performed. Traditional students favored younger students significantly more than nontraditional students; nontraditional students favored older students and diverse ages significantly more than traditional students. In addition, men favored younger students significantly more than women. Directions for research are discussed.