Endorsement of stereotypes of older adults, older men, and male leaders predict expected job performance, voting stance, and voting intentions in the 2020 U.S. presidential election

Abstract

The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election offered a unique opportunity to examine how stereotypes of older adults, older men, and male leaders impact expectations of candidate job performance and intentions to vote for Biden or Trump. This online study involved 500 college students from two universities from September 30th until November 3 (Election Day). A Biden model and a Trump model were tested for the relationships among (a) stereotypes from public discourse with (b) expectations of candidates/ presidential performance with (c) voting stance (pro-and anti-Biden vs. pro-and anti-Trump) and (d) intentions to vote for Biden/Trump. As expected, for the Biden model, endorsement of older adult (lesser endorsement of senile, unhealthy), male leadership (greater endorsement of assertive and collaborative, lesser endorsement of uncaring), and older male stereotypes (greater endorsement of elder statesman and family-focused) predicted greater expectations of Biden's performance, which predicted pro-Biden and anti-Trump stances and ultimately voting intentions for Biden. As expected, for the Trump

Reducing ageism toward older adults and highlighting older adults as contributors during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…The current investigation explored an intervention designed to reduce ageism by combating stereotypes of older adults and did not address intersectional elements of ageism in the content of the intervention nor in the dependent measures. Older adults are not a monolith, and research has increasingly identified that ageism intersects with other ‘isms’ such that there are distinct stereotypes where age (older age) intersects with other group identities (gender, race, sexual orientation, ability status) with distinct consequences for members of those communities (Apriceno & Levy, 2019 ; Chrisler et al., 2016 ; Fredriksen‐Goldsen et al., 2013 ; Laditka et al., 2011 ; Lytle, Apriceno et al., 2018 ; Lytle, Macdonald et al., 2018 ; Monahan et al., 2021 ). A growing body of research demonstrates how older men and women are perceived differently; for example, older women are perceived as being depressed, incompetent, and lonely at earlier ages than men (Hummert et al., 1997 ; Kite & Wagner, 2002 ).…”

The worldwide ageism crisis

“…Some older adults have faced compounded negative consequences and discrimination based on other stigmatized identities. Scholarly work on the intersections of ageism, ableism, classism, heterosexism, racism, and sexism has been steadily growing (Apriceno & Levy, 2019;Chrisler et al, 2016;Jönson & Taghizadeh Larsson, 2021;Kim & Fredriksen-Goldsen, 2017;Lytle, Macdonald, et al, 2018;Martin et al, 2019;Monahan et al, 2021;Ramírez et al, under review).…”

“…Indeed, a pressing future direction for interventions is reaching a more diverse population of participants, which is in line with the recurring cross-cutting themes in this article of expanding the circle of study participants and with attention to intersectionality of ageism and other isms (ableism, classism, heterosexism, racism, sexism). Progress is being made in studying a wider range of populations across cultures and contexts (Chrisler et al, 2016;Löckenhoff et al, 2009;North & Fiske, 2015), and some headway in the study of the intersections of ageism with other isms (Apriceno & Levy, 2019;Jarrott et al, 2022;Lytle, Macdonald, et al, 2018;Martin et al, 2019;Monahan et al, 2021;Ramírez et al, under review). Ramírez et al's (under review) systematic review calls attention that ageism reduction interventions need to also educate about the compounding ageism that older adults face and that intergenerational interventions attend to the multiple identities that older adults have.…”