Similarities in Differences or Differences in Similarities: Beyond a Meta-Review of Ageism

Negative ageism is thought to be an existence of social oppression and inequality which occurs both consciously and unconsciously. Since when ageism has been a global phenomenon after the formation of society 7,000 years ago remains unanswerable. It is at least true in a post-industrial society. The Social Closure framework, including Glass Ceiling, is employed to gain insights on how attitudes of inequalities pertaining to ageism per se or Gender-bias ageism in male-dominated societies are developed, justified and reinforced in interactions within cultural, institutional and organizational environments in this investigation. Additionally, the ‘similarities in differences or differences in similarities’ co-existence is examined in random data comparisons, not forgetting the interdependency on social reality of late adulthood ageism. Notwithstanding the existence of seniority systems, ageism legislation and three key strategies as well as campaigns to reduce or tackle ageism proposed by the World Health Organization, including some positive stereotypes of older people concluded from research, meta-analysis of ageism all points to its eventual inevitability in most countries including Malaysia. Much to the regret and disappointment of older job seekers, it suggests wanting of strong interventions at both individual and societal levels.