Experimental Studies on Subjective Views of Aging: Overview, Challenges, and Future Directions

Hans-Werner-Wahl,; Kornadt, Anna Elena

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-11073-3_14

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 89 publications

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“…PVoA might be resistant to change given their assumed integration into the self-concept and function to preserve power differentials (Rothermund et al, 2021). Research on descriptive views on aging indicates high stability (Diehl et al, 2021) but also momentary (Kornadt et al, 2021) and daily changes (Bellingtier et al, 2017;Kotter-Grühn et al, 2015), as well as malleability within experimental settings (Wahl & Kornadt, 2022). Thus, it is likely that PVoA also have both stable and flexible facets.…”

Section: Malleabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Manipulating prescriptive views of active aging and altruistic disengagement.

Wirth¹,

Couto²,

Pavlova³

et al. 2023

Psychology and Aging

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Older adults are faced with prescriptions to remain fit and socially engaged (active aging) or limit consumption of social resources (altruistic disengagement), and violations of these may result in backlash and marginalization. Despite such negative consequences that prescriptive views of aging (PVoA) may have for older adults, whether PVoA endorsement is modifiable is still to be examined. Thus, in our study, we investigated the malleability of PVoA endorsement. Further, we explored whether malleability of PVoA endorsement generalizes across specific age norms (active aging and altruistic disengagement), life domains (health and social), and targets (others and self). We conducted two preregistered experiments in which participants reflected on agreeing or disagreeing with PVoA. In Experiment 1, 536 adults (50–89 years) reflected on their personal agreement or disagreement with PVoA. In Experiment 2, 435 adults (50–87 years) reflected on agreement with PVoA in society. Reflecting on agreement changed endorsement of PVoA in both experiments: Participants who reflected on agreement reported higher endorsement of PVoA, whereas participants who reflected on disagreement reported lower endorsement. Our results indicated that the cognitive representation of PVoA is norm and domain specific: The endorsement effect did not transfer from active aging to altruistic disengagement (or vice versa) nor across health and social domains. Further, participants set the same prescriptions for their behavior as they set for others as shown by a transfer between endorsement of other- to self-related PVoA. Our findings attest to the complexity and specificity of PVoA and offer important insights for designing interventions.

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Section: Malleabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Manipulating prescriptive views of active aging and altruistic disengagement.

Wirth¹,

Couto²,

Pavlova³

et al. 2023

Psychology and Aging

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“If this is what it means to be old…”: a mixed methods study on the effects of age simulation on views on aging and perceptions of age-related impairments

Schmidt,

Gerhardy,

Carleton-Schweitzer

et al. 2023

Eur J Ageing

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Age simulation suits are a promising tool to increase empathy and to promote positive attitudes toward older adults. However, studies have largely focused on (young) healthcare professionals, are probably biased by social desirability, and have not addressed participants’ views of the aging process triggered by the simulation. The current work combines two studies addressing effects of aging suits on both general and personal views on aging among heterogeneous samples, and exploring spontaneous associations during the simulation. In study 1, N = 165 adults (M = 37.1 years, SD = 15.4, range 18–74 years) answered questionnaires containing general views regarding older adults (“old people are…”) as well as personal perceptions (”aging means to me…”) before and after wearing an aging suit. In study 2, young adults (N = 22; M = 24.8 years, SD = 4.3, range 20–38 years) and middle-aged adults (N = 41; M = 60.8 years, SD = 6.9, range 40–75 years) carried out established geriatric assessments with and without aging suit, and spontaneous impressions on the instant aging experience were recorded. Findings indicated negative shifts in both general and personal views on aging measures in both age groups (d = .30 to d = .44). Analyses of qualitative data resulted in seven main themes, e.g., “strain/coordination”, “future me”, “empathy/insight”. Group comparisons revealed higher frequencies of future-self related thoughts among middle-aged adults, whereas younger adults mentioned predominantly physical effects of the suit. In conclusion, applying age simulation suits might evoke unintended negative views on aging. In comparison with young adults, middle-aged adults showed broader reflections including thoughts related to emotions, future-self, and potential struggles of older people.

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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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Experimental Studies on Subjective Views of Aging: Overview, Challenges, and Future Directions

Cited by 4 publications

References 89 publications

Manipulating prescriptive views of active aging and altruistic disengagement.

Manipulating prescriptive views of active aging and altruistic disengagement.

“If this is what it means to be old…”: a mixed methods study on the effects of age simulation on views on aging and perceptions of age-related impairments

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

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