Do age stereotypes as social role expectations for older adults influence personality development?

Abstract Subjective aging (SA) has generally focused on middle-age and older adults in relation to physical and psychological health for the last 70 years (see Barak & Stern, 1986). Kornadt et al. (2019) recently called for more research examining: co-development of age stereotypes and SA, and this association across the lifespan. Literature examining SA and age stereotypes among younger adults is limited and suggests that age stereotypes are not directly associated with SA (Packer & Chasteen, 2006). Increased contact with older adults, however, is associated with less ageist attitudes (Bousfield & Hutchinson, 2010). This study examined SA and the associations between contact frequency and ageism. The sample consisted of 467 undergraduate students (Mage = 21.48, SDage = 2.63). Subjective age was assessed by asking How old do you feel compared with others your age?, and was scored on a 5-point scale from younger all the time (5) to older all the time (1). Ageism was assessed with the Aging Semantic Differential (ASD), which contains four factors. Results showed significant effects across felt age for contact frequency (F(4, 406) = 3.841, p = .004). Results for the ASD factors were mixed with Autonomy and Integrity showing significant effects for SA (F(4, 405) = 2.763, p = .027; F(4, 405) = 2.773, p = .027 respectively). Instrumentality and Acceptance were nonsignificant. Results suggested feeling older all the time is related to more contact, but more negative attitudes- this increased contact might providing priming for more ageist attitudes (Eibach et al., 2010).

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Gender, formal organizational status and humor use: perceptions of social acceptance

Journal of Managerial Psychology ◽

10.1108/jmp-11-2020-0593 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Timothy R. Moake ◽

Christopher Robert

Keyword(s):

Social Acceptance ◽

Social Role ◽

Role Expectations ◽

High Status ◽

Organizational Status ◽

Content Type ◽

Gender Influence ◽

Aggressive Humor ◽

Influence Perceptions ◽

Practical Implications

PurposeHumor can be a useful tool in the workplace, but it remains unclear whether humor used by men versus women is perceived similarly due to social role expectations. This paper explored whether female humorists have less social latitude in their use of aggressive and affiliative humor in the workplace. This paper also examined how formal organizational status and the target's gender can impact audience perceptions.Design/methodology/approachTwo scenario-based studies were conducted where participants rated the foolishness of the humorist. For Study 1, participants responded to a scenario with an aggressive, humorous comment. For Study 2, participants responded to a scenario with an affiliative, humorous comment.FindingsResults suggested that high-status female humorists who used aggressive humor with low-status women were viewed as less foolish than low-status female humorists who used aggressive humor with low-status women. Conversely, status did not impact perceptions of male humorists who used aggressive humor with low-status women. Results also indicated that high-status women who used affiliative humor were viewed as less foolish when their humor was directed toward low-status men versus low-status women. Conversely, no differences existed for high-status men who used affiliative humor with low-status men and women.Practical implicationsNarrower social role expectations for women suggest that interpersonal humor can be a riskier strategy for women.Originality/valueThis study suggests that women have less social latitude in their use of humor at work, and that organizational status and target gender influence perceptions of female humorists.

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The Relationship Between Maladaptive Personality and Social Role Impairment in Depressed Older Adults in Primary Care

Clinical Gerontologist ◽

10.1080/07317115.2018.1536687 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Aliza Romirowsky ◽

Richard Zweig ◽

Lauren Glick Baker ◽

Jo Anne Sirey

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Primary Care ◽

Social Role ◽

The Relationship ◽

Role Impairment

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Age stereotypes, flexible goal adjustment, and well-being among Chinese older adults

Psychology Health & Medicine ◽

10.1080/13548506.2017.1344253 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 210-215 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jinfeng Zhang ◽

Yu Nancy Xiaonan ◽

Jianxin Zhang ◽

Mingjie Zhou

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Well Being ◽

Age Stereotypes ◽

Chinese Older Adults ◽

Goal Adjustment ◽

Flexible Goal Adjustment

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Effects of Maternal Employment—Childrearing Pattern on College Students' Perceptions of a Mother and Her Child

Psychology of Women Quarterly ◽

10.1111/j.1471-6402.1993.tb00679.x ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 103-117 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Judith S. Bridges ◽

Ann Marie Orza

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Maternal Employment ◽

Role Theory ◽

Maternity Leave ◽

Social Role ◽

First Grade ◽

Public University ◽

Role Expectations ◽

Social Role Theory ◽

Lower Middle Class

This study examined college students' perceptions of different maternal employment-childrearing patterns: continuous employment after 6 weeks of maternity leave, interrupted employment until the child was in first grade, or nonemployment after the child's birth. Primarily Caucasian lower-middle-class volunteers ( n = 200) from a public university read a description of a mother who followed one of these patterns. Results showed that the mother who was continuously employed was rated as less communal and was less positively evaluated than either the mother who interrupted her employment or the nonemployed mother. Further, her child was expected to experience more negative outcomes than the children of either of the other two mothers. Discussion focuses on social role theory and college students' role expectations.

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YOUNG PEOPLE FEEL WISE, OLD PEOPLE FEEL ENERGETIC: COMPARING AGE STEREOTYPES AND SELF-EVALUATIONS ACROSS ADULTHOOD

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.2898 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S787-S787

Author(s):

Anna E Kornadt ◽

Catherine E Bowen ◽

Svenja M Spuling ◽

Maja Wiest

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Young People ◽

Age Groups ◽

Frame Of Reference ◽

Questionnaire Data ◽

Old People ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Age Stereotypes ◽

The Stability

Abstract Using questionnaire data from the MIDUS study (N=6.325) we examined the extent to which people in their late 20s, 40s, and 60s think that positive stereotypic “old” and “young” characteristics describe themselves, their age peers, and other age groups. A constellation of “old” characteristics (e.g., wise, caring, calm) was seen as more descriptive of older adults, while a constellation of “young” characteristics (e.g., healthy, energetic) was seen as more descriptive of younger adults. Self-evaluations were highly positive and largely consistent across age groups. Compared to their age peers, younger adults saw themselves as having as many positive “young” characteristics but more positive “old” characteristics whereas older adults saw themselves as having more positive “young” characteristics but fewer positive “old” characteristics. The results support the stability of the aging self despite the existence of age stereotypes and the role of negative age stereotypes as a frame of reference for making self-evaluations.

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EMERGING ADULT CAREGIVERS: PERCEPTIONS OF OLDER ADULT CARE RECIPIENTS, QUALITY OF CONTACT, AND AGEISM

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.3455 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S952-S952

Author(s):

Anastasia E Canell ◽

Grace Caskie

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Older Adult ◽

Social Role ◽

Emerging Adult ◽

Care Recipient ◽

Adult Care ◽

Care Recipients ◽

Adult Caregivers ◽

Quality Of Contact

Abstract Approximately 12-18% of family caregivers to older adults in the U.S. are 18-25 years old (i.e., emerging adulthood), yet minimal research has focused on this subgroup of caregivers (Levine, 2005; Smyth, Blaxland, & Cass, 2011). Individuals’ perceptions of an older adult’s social role relate to their attitudes toward older adults as a group (Hummert, 1999; Kite & Wagner, 2002). However, whether perceptions that emerging adult caregivers hold of older adults are specific to the social role of “care-recipient” has not been studied. A sample of 210 informal caregivers (ages 18-25) were surveyed to collect qualitative responses regarding perceptions of an older adult care-recipient (age 65+) and to assess quality of contact with the care-recipient and ageist attitudes. Participants were asked to provide five adjectives describing their older adult care-recipient. Approximately 43% provided a set of adjectives in which 80%-100% were coded as positive adjectives (e.g., “active”, “wise”); similarly, half of the sample’s adjective sets contained 0%-25% negative adjectives (e.g., “helpless”, “obnoxious”). The quality of contact with the care-recipient was significantly correlated (p<.001) with the percentage of positive (r=.47) and negative (r=-.49) adjectives. Scores on the Fraboni Scale of Ageism were also significantly correlated (p<.01) with the percentage of positive (r=-.19) and negative (r=.20) adjectives. Overall, these emerging adult caregivers had generally positive perceptions of their older adult care-recipients, and these perceptions reflected the positive quality of contact with the care-recipient. Less ageist attitudes’ relationship with more positive and less negative perceptions may have implications for experiences within a caregiving dyad.

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