Age Stereotypes and Ageism as Facets of Subjective Aging

Chasteen, Alison L.; Schiralli, Jordana E.; Forestier, Joel M. Le; Erentzen, Caroline

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-11073-3_13

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Overall, therefore, stereotypes of older age are not entirely negative ( Hummert, 2011 ; Ng and Indran, 2022 ). The content of stereotypes varies as a function of several factors, including context ( Casper et al, 2011 ), subtypes of “old age” (e.g., “grandmother” vs. “elder statesman”; see Cuddy and Fiske, 2005 ; Chasteen et al, 2022 ), life domains (e.g., family vs. health; Kornadt and Rothermund, 2011 ), characteristics of the targeted older person [e.g., gender, chronological age; ( Kornadt et al, 2013 ; Kydd et al, 2018 )], or of his/her perceiver [e.g., culture, age; ( Löckenhoff et al, 2009 ; Kornadt et al, 2016 ; Ackerman and Chopik, 2021 )]. To sum up, older adults are generally viewed as having more warmth-related (i.e., characteristics related to the intents of older adults) than competence-related characteristics (i.e., characteristics related to the ability to enact those intents; Fiske, 2018 ) (see the stereotype content model; Fiske et al, 2002 ; Cuddy et al, 2005 ; Fiske, 2017 ; Kuljian and Hohman, 2023 ).…”

Section: Age-related Stereotypes and Their Influence On Older Adults’...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ample social psychological literature agrees that the effects of descriptive stereotypes on the physical and mental health of older adults are underpinned by two distinct general mechanisms: the activation of stereotypes by the situation, also called stereotype threat, and the internalization of stereotypes (see, e.g., Chasteen et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Age-related Stereotypes and Their Influence On Older Adults’...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rasset et al 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1358403 Frontiers in Psychology 06 frontiersin.org research suggests that older adults who adopt a non-essentialist view experience better memory performance and less stress in stereotype threat situations than older adults who adopt an essentialist view of aging (Weiss, 2018; for a review, see Weiss, 2022). These findings suggest that instilling a growth mindset (i.e., a lay theory about the malleability of individual characteristics; for a review, see Chasteen et al, 2022) could help counter negative old-age stereotypes. Finally, older adults also cope with age-related stereotypes by countering them directly.…”

Section: Moderators Of Age-related Stereotypes: How Do They Impact We...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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What do we really know about age-related stereotypes and well-being of older adults? A commentary on the state of the art

Rasset,

Mange,

Augustinova

2024

Front. Psychol.

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There is a considerable body of literature on harmful consequences of age-related stereotypes—including consequences on physical and mental health. However, this commentary critically argues that the current state of the art disregards consequences of these stereotypes specifically for the well-being of older adults (i.e., outcome that is not to be confounded with mental health). To this end, the content of age-related stereotypes and the mechanisms through which they operate on physical and mental health are first outlined. The commentary then focuses on the very scarce evidence documenting how and when the well-being of older adults (as assessed directly and not as inferred from other indicators) is influenced by self-directed stereotypes. After setting out possible ways well-being may be involved in the relationship between self-directed stereotypes and physical and mental health of older adults, the present commentary argues that a better understanding of well-being would benefit strategies targeting the reduction of age-related stereotypes. Overall, this commentary on the state of the art highlights that future research is still needed to better understand both the direct and indirect relationships between age-related stereotypes and well-being that is not reducible to positive experiences of life (or hedonic well-being) but also comprises an eudaimonic component.

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Section: Age-related Stereotypes and Their Influence On Older Adults’...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Age-related Stereotypes and Their Influence On Older Adults’...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Moderators Of Age-related Stereotypes: How Do They Impact We...mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

What do we really know about age-related stereotypes and well-being of older adults? A commentary on the state of the art

Rasset,

Mange,

Augustinova

2024

Front. Psychol.

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“…Despite these changes in the older adult population, research on ageism toward older adults has been limited by its focus on age as the primary identity that older people hold ( Burn et al, 2019 ; Chasteen et al, 2021a , 2021b , 2022 ; Rothermund & Brandtstädter, 2003 ; Van Borm et al, 2021 ). As a result, we know very little about how ageism is manifested towards older men and women of color.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ageism against Older Adults: How do Intersecting Identities Influence Perceptions of Ageist Behaviors?

2023

Self Cite

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Most ageism research has focused on prejudice against older people without considering their multiple intersecting identities. We investigated perceptions of ageist acts that targeted older individuals with intersecting racial (Black/White) and gender identities (men/women). Both young (18–29) and older (65+) adult Americans evaluated the acceptability of a variety of instances of hostile and benevolent ageism. Replicating prior work, benevolent ageism was seen as more acceptable compared to hostile ageism, and young adults rated ageist acts as more acceptable than older adults. Small intersectional identity effects were observed such that young adult participants perceived older White men to be the most acceptable targets of hostile ageism. Our research suggests that ageism is viewed differently depending on the age of the perceiver and the type of behavior exhibited. These findings also suggest intersectional memberships should be considered, but further research is needed given the relatively small effect sizes.

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Internalization or Dissociation? Negative Age Stereotypes Make You Feel Younger Now But Make You Feel Older Later

Kornadt

Weiss

Couto

et al. 2023

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B

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Objectives Negative age stereotypes have negative, assimilative effects on the subjective aging experience due to internalization processes, but sometimes positive contrast effects are reported as well, reflecting dissociation and downward comparisons. Our aim was thus to compare short-term and long-term consequences of age stereotypes on the subjective aging experience, to test the hypothesis that contrast effects are visible cross-sectionally, whereas internalization processes are observed when considering long-term changes. Method We assessed age stereotypes and subjective age in a core sample of N=459 participants (initial age range 30 – 80 years) from the Ageing as Future project (Lang et al., 2022) across three consecutive measurement occasions spanning a longitudinal interval of 10 years. Short-term and long-term effects were estimated with latent growth models by assessing effects of age stereotypes on the intercepts (cross-sectional) and on the slopes (longitudinal) of subjective age, respectively, while controlling for current self-views. Results Age stereotypes had opposite effects on subjective age depending on the time frame. A cross-sectional contrast effect was found, whereas longitudinal effects were assimilative in nature. Discussion Our findings support the time-dependent nature of effects of age stereotypes on the subjective aging experience. Negative age stereotypes temporarily lead to a significantly younger subjective age, indicating dissociation from one’s age group and downward comparison. In the long run, however, negative (positive) age stereotypes become internalized into the self-views of older people and are linked to a relatively older (younger) subjective age.

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Age Stereotypes and Ageism as Facets of Subjective Aging

Cited by 3 publications

References 69 publications

What do we really know about age-related stereotypes and well-being of older adults? A commentary on the state of the art

What do we really know about age-related stereotypes and well-being of older adults? A commentary on the state of the art

Ageism against Older Adults: How do Intersecting Identities Influence Perceptions of Ageist Behaviors?

Internalization or Dissociation? Negative Age Stereotypes Make You Feel Younger Now But Make You Feel Older Later

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