Introduction
Ageism was described by Butler (Reference Butler1969) as an overlooked form of bigotry, which represents the tension between the generations. Ageism refers to the way we think, feel and act towards people because of their age (Ayalon and Tesch-Römer Reference Ayalon and Tesch-Römer2018). It starts early in life with children already between the ages of three and six holding both positive (e.g. wisdom in older age) and negative (e.g. older persons as incompetent) stereotypes of older persons as being high on warmth and low on competence (Flamion et al. Reference Flamion, Missotten, Jennotte, Hody and Adam2020). However, as children grow older, their stereotypes of older persons become more negative (Lineweaver et al. Reference Lineweaver, Roy and Horth2017) and in older age these stereotypes may become self-relevant, directed towards themselves (Levy Reference Levy2009). In addition, the distinction between implicit and explicit ageist attitudes becomes stronger with age, possibly alluding to the fact that holding ageist attitudes is recognized as negative (Chopik and Giasson Reference Chopik and Giasson2017).
Ageism is considered a major public health concern (World Health Organization 2021). There is plenty of research to demonstrate the negative effects of ageism on older people and on society at large. A meta-analysis of 422 studies reported that ageism was present in 45 countries, and all 6 continents in which it was studied (Chang et al. Reference Chang, Kannoth, Levy, Wang, Lee and Levy2020). Moreover, its health effects were notable in 11 health domains, including a shorter lifespan, worse quality of life and poorer health and mental health status (Chang et al. Reference Chang, Kannoth, Levy, Wang, Lee and Levy2020). Its effects do not pertain only to older persons’ health, though. Ageism impacts older persons’ full participation in the workforce and further hampers their ability to fulfil their potential (Bae and Choi Reference Bae and Choi2023). Its financial impact is also substantial, highlighting its negative sequela on society at large (Levy et al. Reference Levy, Slade, Chang, Kannoth and Wang2018).
In recognition of the negative effects of ageism, we developed a 1.5-hour educational intervention that was administered in middle schools in varied geographical areas in Israel. In the first part of the session, the students received information about ageism and older age in an interactive manner. In the second part, the students were instructed about the power of social campaigns and received instructions; following the demonstration of successful social campaigns, they were encouraged to create social memes to combat ageism. Preliminary results from the pilot phase were previously reported, indicating that the intervention was effective in improving familiarity with the concept of ageism, and in forming a more balanced view of older persons that incorporates both positive and negative aspects (e.g. older persons as wise, and as oftentimes experiencing a reduction in health) (Suberry et al. Reference Suberry, Okun and Ayalon2025). We also analyzed the memes produced by intervention participants, focusing on ageism towards younger (Okun et al. Reference Okun, Suberry and Ayalon2025) and older persons (Okun, Suberry, and Ayalon Reference Okun, Suberry and Ayalonunder review). These studies were limited to the Israeli Jewish tweens with whom the intervention was first piloted. The present study concerns findings from the development and evaluation of the intervention in the Arab sector in Israel.
Ageism in the Arab sector in Israel
The Arab sector in Israel constitutes about 21 per cent of all Israeli citizens. This is a very heterogenous community, composed of 83.3 per cent Muslim, 7.7 per cent Christian and 9 per cent Druse (Halila et al. Reference Halila, Badran and Rodenski2023). It is a relatively young society, with only 5 per cent of its population being over the age of 65, compared with 14 per cent of Israeli Jews (Snor and Cohen Reference Snor and Cohen2023) Although the life expectancy of the Arab population in Israel is the highest among the entire Arab-Muslim world, it is still lower than that of Israeli Jews (Snor and Cohen Reference Snor and Cohen2023). Despite their heterogeneity, Israeli Arabs are thought to represent traditional values of familism and elder care (Al-Haj Reference Al-Haj1989). For instance, a study of 154 Israelis (86 Jews and 68 Muslims) found that Israeli Arabs rated their culture as more tolerant and respectful towards older persons, viewing older persons as contributing to society, and being less exclusionary towards them. Moreover, Israeli Arabs were less fearful of growing older and were less concerned about their ageing appearance (Bergman et al. Reference Bergman, Bodner and Cohen-Fridel2013).
Nevertheless, the past few decades have seen a change in traditional values and lifestyle, representing a shift towards greater modernization and individualization in the Arab sector in Israel (Ayalon Reference Ayalon2018; Veronese et al. Reference Veronese, Castiglioni, Said and Ruggiero2011). Recent evidence has questioned the romantic perspective of this society as non-ageist. For instance, a study of 1,570 participants found that Israeli Arabs reported higher levels of ageist experiences compared with Israeli Jews and Israeli immigrants from the former Soviet Union (Ayalon and Cohn-Schwartz Reference Ayalon and Cohn-Schwartz2022). Likewise, a qualitative study found that Israeli Arabs over the age of 63 experience ageism and report limited respect and loss of status in the public and private domains (Manor Reference Manor2020).
Ageism and internet memes
The term meme was first introduced by Dawkins (Reference Dawkins1976) to describe the cultural transmission of ideas, behaviours, styles or jokes. Dawkins made an analogous comparison between genes and memes, arguing that cultural data spreads in a manner that is like genes. Memes, just like genes, are replicators. In his book, Dawkins (Reference Dawkins1976) states that examples of memes are tunes, ideas and fashionable clothes. Reportedly, memes transfer from brain to brain via the process of imitation (Dawkins Reference Dawkins1976). Just like genes, memes determine people’s behaviours via observation and learning (Davison Reference Davison2012).
With advancement in technology, the term meme has become synonymous with the internet meme, defined as information spreading online across users and changing through the transmission process. Internet memes tend to be simple, and ordinary, as the focus is the message, rather than its packaging (Börzsei Reference Börzsei2013). They tend to combine verbal information with images, which can be either still or video. Internet memes often are considered to be ‘inside jokes’, understood by those already familiar with the topic, rather than an elaborated explanation concerning the underlying message of the meme. Nonetheless, they do have story-like qualities (de Saint Laurent et al. Reference de Saint Laurent, Glăveanu and Literat2021). Internet memes are thought to have three different aspects: content, form and stance. The content reflects the main ideas transmitted via the meme; the form refers to the visual/auditory aspects of the meme; and the stance reflects the ways those who transfer the meme position themselves in relation to the meme and its potential audiences (Shifman Reference Shifman2013).
The spread of memes via social networks has a major impact on society at large as a catalyst of social change (Knobel and Lankshear Reference Knobel and Lankshear2007). Indeed, there is plenty of research to show the use of internet memes during the pandemic, in climate change discourse and in attempts to change political regimes worldwide (de Saint Laurent et al. Reference de Saint Laurent, Glăveanu and Literat2021; Makhortykh and González Aguilar Reference Makhortykh and González Aguilar2020; Moody-Ramirez and Church Reference Moody-Ramirez and Church2019; Soh Reference Soh2020; Zhang and Pinto Reference Zhang and Pinto2021). Internet memes are also used to portray societal views towards minorities, demonstrating power struggles between groups and the discriminatory practices that are prevalent in society (Duchscherer and Dovidio Reference Duchscherer and Dovidio2016; Fersini et al. Reference Fersini, Gasparini and Corchs2019; Williams et al. Reference Williams, Oliver, Aumer and Meyers2016). Ageism as well is highly prevalent in internet memes, as evident by research conducted in both Western (Graham Reference Graham2022; Skipper and Rose Reference Skipper and Rose2021) and Eastern countries (Lee and Hoh Reference Lee and Hoh2023).
The present study
In contrast to most past research, which has examined internet memes in real life, noting the dangers inherent in ageist internet memes as a tool to shape public discourse and views of older persons (Graham Reference Graham2022; Skipper and Rose Reference Skipper and Rose2021), the present study relies on internet memes as a tool to possibly fight ageism and shape public views in a positive manner. As younger persons are more likely to use online communication than other age groups (Thayer and Ray Reference Thayer and Ray2006), including the production of internet memes (Cannizzaro Reference Cannizzaro2016), educating this age group about ageism and equipping them with tools to possibly challenge ageist societal views of older persons can be an important step in combating ageism. Our own research conducted among Israeli Jews has shown that tweens are able to generate memes to fight ageism towards older persons. The majority (168 memes; 74 per cent) conveyed anti-ageism messages aimed at eliminating stereotypes about older persons and ageing. Conversely, 59 memes (26 per cent) reflected ageist attitudes, perpetuating stereotypes and stigma about ageing and older age (Okun, Suberry and Ayalon Reference Okun, Suberry and Ayalonunder review). Another unexpected finding was that about one-third of memes addressed ageism directed towards children and tweens, rather than ageism towards older people (Okun et al. Reference Okun, Suberry and Ayalon2025). Although informative, the study was conducted among Israeli Jews and findings may not be generalized to Israeli Arabs, as a unique minority group in Israeli society. The present study aims to highlight the use of memes by Israeli Arab tweens, given the distinct experiences of the different sectors. The study is focused exclusively on the Arab sector. It is important as it addresses a relatively unexplored topic among Israeli Arabs, a sector that is undergoing major societal transitions from traditional values of elder respect to more modern values of independence and neoliberalism (Manor Reference Manor2020).
The main research question guiding the present study concerns the initiative taken by tweens to address ageism via memes. We expected to find various forms of resistance to and challenge of ageism in line with the overall goal of the educational intervention. As research on the topic of ageism among Israeli Arabs is scarce, we had no concrete hypotheses, though our initial expectation was to find positive images of older persons as a means to counter societal ageism towards older persons.
Methods
Participants and procedure
The study was conducted in Israel. Data collection was between May and June 2024. The study received the ethical approval of the principal investigator’s (PI) university (#82203) and the Ministry of Education (#13103). Prior to participating in the study, we obtained approval of the students’ parents in addition to an informed consent provided by the students. In total, 160 Israeli Arabs from 3 different schools underwent the intervention. Of these, 83 (51.9 per cent) were females. The average age of the sample was 14.35 (SD = 0.703; range: 13–16). However, not all workshops included the meme creation activity owing to time constraints or internet connectivity issues, which limited the total number of memes produced to 131. Hence, although each student could contribute only one meme, not all groups contributed memes.
A detailed description of the intervention can be found in Suberry et al. Reference Suberry, Okun and Ayalon2025. The overall rationale of the brief intervention, which lasted 1.5 hours, is that education is needed not only about the diversity of older age and ageing but also about the concept of ageism and its negative impact. This rationale is supported by past research which has shown that education is effective in reducing ageism (Burnes et al. Reference Burnes, Sheppard, Henderson, Wassel, Cope, Barber and Pillemer2019) and that many Israelis are unaware of the term (Okun and Ayalon 2024). The intervention was then followed by a brief discussion of social activism and the importance of media in shaping our worldview. Students were provided with examples of past successful social campaigns and collectively explored the use of memes to address major societal problems.
After receiving detailed information about ageism and the heterogeneity inherent in older age, the concept of ‘social campaigns’ and the power of social media to create social change were introduced, supported by examples of successful campaigns. Participants were then taught how to use the meme generator (https://imgflip.com/memegenerator). They were encouraged to choose an image and write a slogan advocating for the elimination of ageism and stereotypes towards older persons. The advantage of this meme generator is that it allows using Arabic in captions; thus, it provided an opportunity for the participants to communicate openly in their own mother tongue. Participants were explicitly instructed to produce memes that combat ageism following the understanding that ageism is a major barrier that prevents older persons from fulfilling their potential. Participants created memes using their cell phones, specifically designed to combat ageism by raising awareness on social media platforms. After completing the task, the memes were uploaded online via the Padlet website (https://he.padlet.com/) and displayed on the classroom screen. Finally, the university students discussed initial interpretations of the memes and encouraged participants to share the memes with family and friends.
For use in the Arab sector, the intervention was translated from Hebrew to Arabic by a professional translator who is a native Arabic speaker and subsequently modified by Israeli Arab university students with experience in social work and education. The students provided feedback on the intervention and ensured appropriate cultural translation of contents and visuals. The intervention was administered in the Arab sector in Arabic by Israeli Arab university students, who received training including feedback on mock administration of the intervention.
Analysis
As ageism can be portrayed not only verbally but also visually (Loos and Ivan Reference Loos, Ivan, Ayalon and Tesch-Römer2018), analysis focused on the visual and written data, incorporating both visual and thematic contents. Given the fact that the three key people responsible for the development and implementation of the intervention are Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs were involved in all stages of the study, including the adaptation of the intervention for the Arab sector, its administration in the Arab community and the analysis. Two Israeli Arabs (with experience in gerontology and social work) were actively involved in the analysis process. This analysis is consistent with the one reported by Kertcher and Turin (Reference Kertcher and Turin2020), which addressed both visual and thematic contents. Although we had no prior hypotheses concerning the findings, we pursued the analysis with a focus on ageism and the portrayal of older persons.
The analysis consisted of several iterative stages. First, two pairs (SO, RG) and (AS, RA), each composed of an Israeli Jewish rater and an Israeli Arab rater, analyzed all 131 memes produced by the students. Each team generated a table with a serial number for each of the memes, the actual meme, a verbal description of its visual and verbal contents, and an interpretation of the meme. Additional columns were added to reflect the two main themes identified in the analysis and the main stereotype reflected by the meme. Next, SO and AS consolidated the findings and identified inconsistencies across pairs.
There was an agreement concerning 64 of the memes. Twenty-four memes were excluded at this stage because they were deemed irrelevant to this study (16 were deemed to be unrelated to ageism, while 8 concerned ageism towards children). In the third stage, the 4 raters met to discuss 41 inconsistencies. Nonetheless, following discussion, the interpretation of six memes remained unresolved. These memes were discussed in a larger group format with the PI. An example of an inconsistency can be seen in meme #4. There was uncertainty as to whether the person in the meme was hesitating over which of the two buttons to press or had already made a choice by hitting the ‘young’ button. However, after discussion, it was decided by most team members that the finger should touch the ‘young’ button. The team discussion resulted in the resolution of four themes; two remained unresolved and are not discussed in the present study. The final stage involved the creation of a table featuring the main themes and sub-themes that emerged in the analysis.
Findings
In total, 105 memes addressed ageism towards older people. These memes were classified into two main themes. The first concerned portraying ageism towards older persons (n = 66) (e.g. older persons as weak, a burden to society and impaired). The second theme concerned attempts to combat ageism (n = 39) (e.g. providing a balanced view of older persons, demonstrating similarities between people of different age groups). Selected memes accompanied by descriptive and interpretative analysis are presented in Table 1. Figure 1 provides a visual model of the main themes and sub-themes identified in the analysis.
Figure 1. A visual depiction of the main themes identified in the study.
Table 1. Memes depicting the main themes and sub-themes identified
Portraying ageism towards older persons
This broader theme of ageism towards older persons was classified into four different sub-themes. The first sub-theme can simply be described as the negative portrayal of stereotypes of older people. In total, 34 memes portrayed older persons in a stereotypical way as incapable, engaging in inadequate behaviours and a burden to society. For instance, meme #1 depicts two pictures of a young man. The first picture has accompanied captions that say: ‘My grandfather does not know how to use the phone’. Similarly, the second statement says ‘even a toddler in kindergarten knows how to use the phone’. This meme highlights a general perception of older people as incapable of using even simple technology. Meme #2 depicts an older person with an underlying caption in English saying: ‘I am asking again’ and the answer is: ‘I don’t know.’ Hence, this meme possibly alludes to the incapacity of older people and their limited cognitive abilities. Other memes in this sub-theme highlight negative stereotypes of older persons, including their perceived decline in sensory functioning, such as hearing and vision. Memes further portray older individuals as unattractive, to the point of being repellent, and emphasize general incapacity across various domains, including work and leisure activities. These negative stereotypes contribute to the portrayal of older adults as frail and unable to contribute meaningfully to society.
The second sub-theme was classified as intergenerational conflict. In total, 11 memes depicted tension and conflictual relationships between the generations. Meme #3 shows a picture of two dogs. The smaller one, who is a little bent, has the descriptor ‘old’, whereas the bigger one, who is strong and mighty, has the caption ‘young’. Hence, this meme highlights differences between old and young in physical appearance and strength. Meme #4 shows a picture of two buttons on top and a young man sweating, struggling to decide. The captions over the buttons say ‘young’ and ‘old’ and the man’s finger appears to be selecting the button which says ‘young’. Hence, this meme possibly highlights the tension between the generations, stressing a need to decide and choose one generation over the other.
The third sub-theme depicted in 11 memes equated older persons with death. Meme #5 shows a photo of an older man saying: ‘I am going to die soon. Maybe even in an hour.’ There is accompanying text in English saying, ‘I am once again asking.’ This meme highlights the connection between older persons and death. Meme #6 depicts a skeleton with the caption ‘Rot to death’. This meme depicts older age as a period of decay, equating older age with dying.
A final sub-theme depicted in eight memes highlights abuse and severe disregard towards older persons. For instance, meme #7 shows the face of a young girl, half-smiling, and in the background there is a house burning. The caption says, ‘When I burn my grandfather’s and grandmother’s home and take the inheritance.’ This is accompanied by a laughing emoji. Meme #8 depicts a boy and a young woman. The boy tells the woman: ‘What’s up, you mother-fucker.’ Although the woman is not an older person, it clearly reflects a disregard and lack of respect towards people who are older than the boy.
Attempts to combat ageism
Only 39 memes attempted to challenge ageism. These memes were classified into three sub-themes. The first sub-theme, which consisted of 19 memes, challenged negative stereotypes of older people. Meme #9 depicts a white figure holding a yellow balloon. The caption says, ‘This is how I view things – big balloon.’ Underneath, the same figure is still holding the balloon but now is being hugged by a bigger pink figure. The caption says: ‘This is how my grandfather sees things – small balloon.’ This demonstrates an attempt to challenge ageism by highlighting the view of the older person, who has wisdom and perspective to share with the child. Likewise, meme #10 shows an older man who raises an intimidating finger and warns, ‘Don’t think you can show off to me, I’m not weak.’ This meme supposedly challenges negative age stereotypes by questioning the perception that older individuals are incapable or physically weak.
The second sub-theme demonstrates an overarching attempt to combat ageism, emphasizing connection and solidarity between the generations. In total, six memes were classified under this sub-theme. Meme #11 depicts two cartoon figures. One looks older and scared; the other one is a smiling young person. The caption says ‘Friends’. Meme #12 shows a young person looking at a flying butterfly. The text says: ‘Respect your elders.’ This is a common phrase used to give respect to older people.
The third sub-theme depicted empathic feelings towards older people. This sub-theme was captured in six of the memes. Meme #13 shows a picture of an angry toddler. The caption says: ‘Those who do not respect their elders have no place amongst us.’ Meme #14 shows two pictures of an older man drinking coffee and holding a laptop. The caption says ‘someone loves you’ with emojis of hearts and love. Both memes demonstrate a deep intergenerational connection and solidarity.
To conclude
Even though respondents were instructed to produce memes that challenge ageism, most memes depicted negative stereotypes of older persons. An interesting finding concerns the fact that 13 of the memes mentioned one’s grandparents. Whereas six of these memes mentioned ageism towards one’s grandparents, seven of the memes mentioned grandparents while attempting to combat ageism. For example, meme #15 features a road sign that says: ‘I turn right: to my grandfather’s house on my father’s side’; going straight on leads: ‘To grandpa’s house on my mother’s side.’ This reflects an aspiration for an intergenerational encounter: The young man goes to visit the older one (and prefers the grandfather on his father’s side). In the Arab society, there is a discourse about whom we should visit out of respect for the previous generation. The paternal grandfather’s home is considered more important. The vehicle turns right in the direction of respect for tradition. Meme #16 features a cartoon which says: ‘My son’s wedding is tomorrow. I will hang myself.’ This cartoon corresponds with an online Arabic meme, which is popular on TikTok, about the cancellation of a wedding following the death of the grandfather exactly on the week of the wedding. Although we could have separated these memes into two sub-themes (one characterizing grandparents in a positive way and the other as characterizing grandparents negatively), we decided to note the similarities in the reference to grandparents in relation to both positive and negative connotations.
A key finding highlights the use of violence in the fight against ageism as a misguided approach. Nine memes created by Arab tweens depict a blunt and aggressive struggle against ageism, reflecting intergenerational tensions and reliance on violence. For example, meme #17 shows Batman hitting a young man who mocks older adults, aiming to defend their dignity while normalizing aggression and reinforcing conflict rather than fostering mutual respect. Similarly, meme #18 portrays a heated argument between an older individual and a younger one that escalates into verbal and physical violence. These memes fail to promote intergenerational dialogue and instead perpetuate the idea that disrespect should be met with aggression, deepening tension rather than resolving it.
Discussion
This is one of very few studies which examined ageism in the Arab sector in Israel. In the present inquiry, we aimed to examine the use of memes by Israeli Arab tweens as a tool to combat ageism following an education intervention to combat ageism. The focus on Israeli Arab tweens is remarkable as this population has hardly received research acknowledgement despite the fact that ageism starts early in life and is already evident in even younger age groups (Flamion et al. Reference Flamion, Missotten, Jennotte, Hody and Adam2020). A major finding of this study concerns the fact that even though students received explicit instructions to fight ageism via their meme production, most students produced memes that depicted old age and ageing in a negative stereotypical light. This potentially suggests that negative stereotypes of older people are so ingrained in this group that they cannot challenge the stereotypes but rather reproduce them even when told otherwise.
Of note is the fact that our own research in the Jewish Israeli sector resulted in different findings, with most students producing content that either challenged ageism towards older persons or highlighted ageism towards younger persons (Okun et al. Reference Okun, Suberry and Ayalon2025). As research on Israeli Arab tweens is still scarce, further inquiry is needed. Nonetheless, the findings possibly allude to the fact that more attention needs to be paid to fighting ageism in the Arab sector and that an intervention that was deemed successful in the Jewish sector (Suberry et al. Reference Suberry, Okun and Ayalon2025) may not be as effective in the Arab sector. The present findings highlight a true need for further educational interventions specifically tailored to this population group. Contrary to the general notion of the Arab population as familistic, holding high levels of respect towards older persons (Al-Haj Reference Al-Haj1989), ageism is highly prevalent in this sector. This is consistent with past research which has shown a shift towards more individualistic practices (Ayalon Reference Ayalon2018; Veronese et al. Reference Veronese, Castiglioni, Said and Ruggiero2011), which often result in older persons’ loss of respect and status in the Arab sector in Israel (Manor Reference Manor2020).
The most common theme depicted by the memes was that of negative ageist stereotypes of older people, as physically unattractive and inadequate and mentally incapable. This perspective echoes similar negative stereotypes found in past research (Kite and Johnson Reference Kite and Johnson1988). Some memes also depicted intergenerational tension and conflict. This, too, is quite common in society at large and has been a common practice in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic (Ayalon Reference Ayalon2020) as well as the climate change discourse (Ayalon et al. Reference Ayalon, Roy, Aloni and Keating2023). It has been argued that intergenerational tension is more likely to flourish under conditions of scarce resources (Miao et al. Reference Miao, Liu, Dang, Li, Liu, Jiang and Huang2024). As the Arab sector in Israel is more disadvantaged financially and occupationally compared with the majority group (Halila et al. Reference Halila, Badran and Rodenski2023), it is possible that sense of scarcity exacerbates intergenerational relations. Nonetheless, the findings somewhat deviate from the analysis conducted by Loos and Ivan (Reference Loos, Ivan, Ayalon and Tesch-Römer2018) who identified an overly positive portrayal of older persons in more recent media communication. This could possibly be owing to the present analysis being focused on meme production, which is an informal method of generating content, whereas the Loos and Ivan (Reference Loos, Ivan, Ayalon and Tesch-Römer2018) analysis was based on traditional media outlets for the portrayals of older persons.
The equation of older persons with death and dying is not a new phenomenon. In fact, one of the explanations for the occurrence of ageism stems from the strong association between older age and death (Greenberg and Arndt Reference Greenberg, Arndt, Van Lange, Kruglanski and Higgins2012). According to terror management theory, people tend to shy away from death and dying because these are reminders of their own mortality. This association also serves as a fuel to instigate ageism towards older people (Martens et al. Reference Martens, Goldenberg and Greenberg2005). The present findings highlight this association and demonstrate how ingrained this connection is in the minds of Israeli Arab tweens.
Another finding concerning the portrayal of ageism by Israeli Arab tweens concerns their reference to elder abuse and disregard in the context of ageism. There is a growing recognition that elder abuse and neglect broadly stems and flourishes from ageist views and practices towards older people (Phelan Reference Phelan2008). Specifically, it was argued that ageism results in more forgiving attitudes towards elder abuse as it dehumanizes older persons and negates their rights (Phelan Reference Phelan2008). Moreover, ageism has been associated with the exclusion of older persons from the social fabric, their devaluation, depersonalization, infantilization and blame, all of which could possibly account for elder abuse and neglect. These are further amplified when negative stereotypes of older persons are internalized and act as self-fulfilling prophecy and legal institutes responsible for the protection of older persons disregard their rights because of inherent institutional ageism (Pillemer et al. Reference Pillemer, Burnes and MacNeil2021). The use of graphic language that contains verbal and physical abuse towards older persons is disturbing and goes along with the equation of elder abuse and neglect with ageism. Yet, this might also reflect the high levels of violence, including homicide, in the Arab sector in Israel compared with the Jewish sector (Weinreb et al. Reference Weinreb, Weiss, Shami and Kaidar2024).
To combat ageism, tweens highlighted positive aspects of older people. This is consistent with many interventions which attempt to reduce ageism by highlighting positive aspects of older people and old age (Okun and Ayalon Reference Okun and Ayalon2022). Although positive, it is important to make sure that older people are not presented in an overly positive way, which does not acknowledge the losses and decline that often are an inevitable part of growing older. The students also emphasized intergenerational contact as a tool for reducing ageism. This, too, has empirical support as an effective means of reducing ageism (Burnes et al. Reference Burnes, Sheppard, Henderson, Wassel, Cope, Barber and Pillemer2019). Specifically, bringing generations together to collaborate rather than compete against each other may result in the reduction of ageism towards older people. This finding demonstrates the intuitive appeal of the technique, which was readily endorsed by the students. Another approach used in the memes was an attempt to instigate empathic and positive feelings towards older people. This possibly highlights the link between empathy and ageism (Li et al. Reference Li, Noah and Knight2023) and points to the important role of emotions as one of the three dimensions of ageism.
Of note is the fact that more than 10 per cent of all memes acknowledged one’s grandparents. This highlights the important role that grandparents have in shaping tweens’ perceptions of old age and ageing (Flamion et al. Reference Flamion, Missotten, Marquet and Adam2019). The fact that grandparents were mentioned both to convey ageist attitudes, feelings and practices and to fight ageism possibly alludes to intergenerational ambivalence. The concept was introduced to account for the complex relationships between people of different generations (Lüscher and Hoff Reference Lüscher and Hoff2013; Lüscher and Pillemer Reference Lüscher and Pillemer1998). Intergenerational relations are not solely empathic and compassionate but also are not only conflictual. Instead, they contain both positive and negative features that often manifest in ambivalence, as shown in the present study.
The present study has several limitations that should be acknowledged. First, we are unable to compare the findings obtained from Israeli Jewish tweens as the meme production app was different in the two groups, to allow each population to communicate using its own mother tongue. Second, the memes were not introduced as a tool to learn about ageism, but rather as a tool to fight it. In addition, we did not maintain data concerning the exact demographic characteristics of the students who produced each of the memes; therefore, we are unable to conduct comparative analysis across gender, for instance. Future research will benefit from identifying gender and age differences in meme production. Although ageism starts already in very young children, we decided to focus on tweens because of our interest in meme creation, a procedure that might be challenging to apply with very young children who do not have their own devices. Future research will benefit from developing a similar procedure with younger age groups. Another possible limitation concerns cultural barriers. Although we specifically relied on two Israeli Arab co-authors for the analysis and interpretation of the findings, the lead authors of this paper and the ones who developed the intervention are all Israeli Jews. Hence, it is possible that, despite our efforts, we have failed to ensure the cultural adaptation of the intervention. Finally, the interpretation of the memes was somewhat subjective as it relied on the research team who did not obtain the actual interpretations of those who produced the memes. Future research will benefit from obtaining interpretative input from those who created the memes.
Despite our study’s limitations, our findings show that the use of memes can possibly provide an inner glance into tweens’ views about older persons and ageism. Thus, our study highlights the role of media not only in shaping one’s views but also in bringing public norms to the forefront. Despite their limitations, the findings are important as they highlight the need to pay further attention to Israeli Arab tweens as a population group in further need of education about the negative impact of ageism. Future research may benefit from using similar tools as the ones conveyed by the students, such as intergenerational solidarity, enhancing a sense of empathy and stressing positive aspects of older age and ageing to combat ageism. As past research has highlighted the benefits of educational interventions in reducing ageism (Burnes et al. Reference Burnes, Sheppard, Henderson, Wassel, Cope, Barber and Pillemer2019), it is important to continue and explore alternative means of education, employing more refined content as possibly alluded by the present findings to effectively reduce ageism in this population. The study also highlights some of the areas that should be targeted in future interventions, including issues of elder abuse and violence, as well as intergenerational ambivalence, which includes not only empathy and solidarity but also conflict and tension.
Financial support
The study was funded by the Impact Center for the Study of Ageism and Older Age.
Open access
