This research assesses the ways the young-old differ in attitudes. As part of a larger study, data were collected by personal interview with 224 people aged 55 to 74, and 42 persons aged 75 and over living in an urban center and a rural county in Kentucky. Each person responded to 72 agree-disagree statements constituting 24 attitude scales about economic well-being, self-image, morale, community life, family relationships, and general outlook. In both urban and rural samples the young-old reported more favorable socioeconomic conditions than the old-old. In the rural area slight differences were found between the attitudes of the young-old by a ration of 5.5 to one. Several hypotheses are suggested to explain the more favorable attitudes found among the old-old in the metropolitan center. (Author)