Objective: This exploratory study sought to measure current self-reported experiences of older Saudi adults. Method: Self-reported aging perceptions and demographic data from semistructured questions were obtained from 52 community-dwelling older Saudi adults aged 50 or older. A thematic content analysis was completed around issues of family life/social support, daily/weekly activities, health and health programs, and older adults’ own thoughts about aging and the experience and future of personal aging. Results: Several key themes emerged from the interviews. The majority of respondents in this preliminary study acknowledge a preference for family care. Formal programs in Saudi Arabia are attended with relative infrequency while older adults recognize family support as the preferred method of support. Older Saudi interviewees hold a positive view of aging, but physical functioning, varying financial resources, and other daily obligations are a concern for those in this study. Discussion: Data suggest as the Saudi population ages, more research is needed on the aging experience with particiular emphasis on issues relevant to older adults . Future research must work to clarify the aging experience as cultural context changes.

The gender intensification hypothesis claims that the socialization pressures of early adolescence lead to the adoption of traditional sex‐typed roles. We tested this proposal by examining how extensively children (Mage = 9.39 years; N = 69, 31 female), early adolescents (Mage = 12.06 years; N = 70, 36 female), middle adolescents (Mage = 14.81 years; N = 65, 37 female), and emerging adults (Mage = 18.51 years; N = 70, 37 female) made generalizations from vignettes about male and female characters who had stereotypically feminine or masculine qualities and who had stereotypically neutral qualities. Results showed, first, age‐related increases in gender‐based generalization biases (the difference between stereotype‐consistent and stereotype‐neutral generalizations) to mid‐adolescence and an age‐related decrease in generalization biases from mid‐adolescence to adulthood. Second, we found gender intensification in self‐conceptualizations as masculine and feminine: More so than children and emerging adults, middle adolescents adopted stereotypically masculine and feminine traits. Third, age‐related declines in gender stereotypes of occupations and traits were mediated by faith in intuition. Finally, faith in intuition and gender self‐concepts moderated age‐related increases in generalization biases such that the slope of the age‐related increase in biases was steepest for participants who placed the most faith in intuition and whose gender self‐concepts were traditional. Findings are discussed in terms of gender identification, dual‐process theories of judgements, and the interference stereotypes create when adolescents construct problem representations. Statement of contribution What is already known of the adolescent appearance culture Appearance plays an important role in the psychosocial lives of adolescents. Little research has been conducted on cultural differences in the adolescent appearance culture. What this study adds to our understanding of the adolescent appearance culture Americans were more appearance focused than Chinese adolescents; girls were more appearance focused than boys. The appearance focus–country link was mediated by body esteem, activity level, and parental body size. The link between appearance focus and gender was mediated by body consciousness and perceived appearance pressure.

Few studies have examined age or cultural differences in the stereotypes adolescents have of persons with obesity. The present research explored the hypotheses that American adolescents have more negative obesity stereotypes than Chinese adolescents and that the effects of culture are mediated by weight attributions and thin idealization. Participants (N = 335; 181 female; M age = 14.83 years, SD = 1.57 years) completed measures of thin idealization and causal attributions and made generalizations from and attributions of stereotypical personality characteristics to obese figures. Not only did stereotypes differ between countries, but generalizations of negative characteristics from obese figures increased with age. In addition, American adolescents more firmly endorsed the 'thin ideal' and were more likely to attribute obesity to internal causes that Chinese adolescents. As anticipated, between-country differences in stereotyping were mediated by thin idealization and causal attributions. Findings are discussed in terms of the 'doctrine of the mean', social identity theory, and dual-process theories. Statement of Contribution The development of obesity stereotypes has been the subject of a number of recent studies. Although scarce, research on adolescents' obesity stereotypes indicates that the strength of these stereotypes increases with age and that these increases are mediated by thin idealization and causal attributions. The current research adds to this growing literature that differences between Chinese adolescents' and American adolescents' obesity stereotypes - in terms of the assignment of stereotypical traits to people with obesity and the generalization of negative traits from an individual person with obesity to people with obesity as a group - are mediated by thin idealization and attributions about obesity's causes. The research also indicates that (1) age differences in obesity stereotyping vary as a function of the method used to measure stereotypes, (2) Chinese adolescents are less likely than American adolescents to attribute obesity to characterological flaws, and (3) American adolescents idealize thinness more than Chinese adolescents.

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To explore hypotheses based on Stanovich’s proposal that analytic processing comprises a reflective-level, an algorithmic level, and specific mindware, 342 participants completed measures of thinking dispositions, general ability (GA), numeracy, and probabilistic and nonprobabilistic reasoning. In a control condition, numeracy predicted probabilistic reasoning at high levels of both thinking dispositions and GA, and GA predicted nonprobabilistic reasoning at high levels of thinking dispositions. In a logic instruction condition, numeracy predicted probabilistic reasoning when GA was high, and GA affected nonprobabilistic reasoning directly. Thinking dispositions moderated neither relationship. Instead, instructions facilitated reasoning for low thinking disposition/high-ability participants, suggesting that logic instructions cued low thinking disposition individuals to engage in higher order reflective processing. The evidence is consistent with the proposals that reflective processes are essential to the allocation of algorithmic resources, and algorithmic resources are necessary for effective mindware implementation.