Use of a semantic differential attitude scale, such as the one developed by Rosencranz and McNevin with the three common factors of autonomy, instrumentality, and acceptability, as well as a fourth dimension interpreted by Holtzman, representing good versus poor affective integration, could potentially reveal similarities as well as differences between adolescents and the elderly, especially when viewed in relation to a middle aged group. To clarify the position of adolescents related to the elderly and the middle aged, to determine a pattern of attitudes, and to clarify the fourth or integrative dimension, undergraduates (N=150) were asked to rate attitudes toward ideal, real, and typical adolescents, middle-aged, and elderly people, using the Rosencranz and McNevin semantic differential scale. Four subscales (autonomy, instrumentality, acceptability, and integration) were assessed. Analyses of results showed that ideal types were not seen to differ on either instrumentality or autonomy. Real adolescents and middle-aged people were viewed as equally instrumental and more instrumental than the elderly; for the typical category, instrumentality was seen to steadily decline with increasing age. Real and typical middle-aged people were seen as more autonomous than either adolescents or elderly people. Typical types were seen as less acceptable than either real or ideal. Integration was viewed as decreasing progressively from ideal to real to typical. The results support the notion of intergenerational affinities. (Author/PAS)