scholarly journals Associations Between Subjective Age, Contact With Older Adults, and Age Stereotypes Among Younger Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 324-324
Author(s):  
Maria Kurth ◽  
Robert Intrieri

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).

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 620-620
Author(s):  
David Weiss

Abstract Subjective age bias suggests that middle-aged and older adults feel relative younger, whereas adolescents and young adults often feel older than their chronological age. However, we still know very little about its social conditions and consequences across the life span particularly within the work domain. Across three studies (correlational, experimental, and field: Ns = 650, 16-85 years), we show that feeling older (among younger adults) and younger (among older adults) is triggered by undesirable age stereotypes concerning competence and status of young and later adulthood and desirable age stereotypes of midlife. We further demonstrate that feeling relatively older among young adults and younger among older adults increases individuals’ self-perceived competence at work and predicts proactive behavior such as speaking up. We discuss subjective age bias as socially-mediated phenomenon and how it affects behavior at work across the life span.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria A. Floerke ◽  
Molly Sands ◽  
Derek Isaacowitz ◽  
Ayanna K Thomas ◽  
Heather L. Urry

Despite the importance of emotion regulation (ER) to physical and psychological health, little is known about the resources that contribute to ER success. In two studies, we tested the hypothesis that affective forecasting, or the ability to predict how situations will make one feel, would be associated with situation selection, an ER strategy in which one chooses situations based on their emotional potential. In Study 1, 53 younger adults completed behavioral assessments of both affective forecasting and situation selection. Contrary to our predictions, there was no robust support for the hypothesis. However, a number of design limitations may have obscured the hypothesized association. Thus, we conducted a second study to retest the hypothesis after instituting several improvements in measurement and timing. In addition, we sought to test a new hypothesis that the association between affective forecasting and situation selection would vary by age. In Study 2, 54 younger and 50 older adults completed behavioral assessments of affective forecasting and situation selection. Analyses indicated that making fewer forecasting errors was associated with selecting fewer emotional relative to neutral situations. No robust age differences were found. This pattern suggests that affective forecasting may be a resource for situation selection across the lifespan.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Maayan Sayag ◽  
Gitit Kavé

Abstract Older adults consistently report young subjective age and provide high ratings of their subjective health. The current research examined which social comparisons older adults make when they assess their subjective age and health, as well as the effects of experimentally manipulated social comparisons on these assessments. In Study 1, 146 participants (aged 60 and over) reported to whom they compared themselves when assessing their subjective age or health. In Study 2, 100 participants (aged 60 and over) reported their subjective age and health after receiving feedback that compared them to younger adults or to their peers. Study 1 shows that participants compared themselves primarily to their peer group. Yet, individuals who selected a younger comparison group when assessing subjective age reported a younger subjective age, better self-rated health and more positive expectations regarding ageing relative to those who selected their peers as a comparison group. No equivalent differences emerged in any of the measures when participants were divided by their selection of comparison group after providing their self-rated health ratings. In Study 2, feedback that emphasised the performance of younger people led to reports of younger subjective age relative to feedback that emphasised peer performance, with no equivalent difference for self-rated health. These findings help explain why older adults feel younger and healthier than they actually are. We suggest that older adults use social comparisons as a strategy that protects them from the negative effects of ageing on self-perception.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S787-S787
Author(s):  
Anna E Kornadt ◽  
Catherine E Bowen ◽  
Svenja M Spuling ◽  
Maja Wiest

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-231
Author(s):  
Sujarwo ◽  
Annisa Solikha

This reseach aims to learn how to deal with conflicts between citizens as social conflicts, and changes that result, and efforts to overcome conflicts between citizens. The reseach was conducted in Kramat Pulo Gundul, Johar Baru, Central Jakarta. This reseach uses qualitative methods to obtain more in-depth data by asking research informants. Techniques for collecting data through involved observation, interviews, use of documents, registration techniques, and field notes. The results of the study concluded, the causes of brawl between residents in Kramat Pulo Gundul were different goals, individual personalities, cultural and defense conflicts, and cultural differences. Fights between residents that occurred in RW 010 Kramat Pulo Gundul, Tanah Tinggi, Johar Baru, Jakarta Damage to public facilities and property, Relationship damage and communication between parties involved in conflict, Negative attitudes and protections, Physical and psychological health, Difficulties looking for work, and lowering the price of houses and land. However, there is a need to worry about reducing the sense of respect and return, peace and life values for each individual.


1998 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake Harwood ◽  
Angie Williams

The study uses a recently-developed scale for eliciting perceptions, expectations, and evaluations of intergenerational communication. As predicted, it is found that younger adults expect to experience more anxiety, receive more complaining, and receive lower levels of attunement from an older adult who is portrayed as “despondent” than one who is portrayed as a “perfect grandparent.” In addition, younger adults with more negative attitudes toward older adults expect to experience more negative affect, anxiety, and communication apprehension, to feel more compassion for the older adult, and to receive lower levels of attunement and more complaining from the older adult than those with more positive attitudes. Surprisingly, younger adults with higher levels of young age identification expect to experience lower levels of apprehension, more attunement from the older adult, and to feel more compassion for the older adult than those with lower levels of age identity. These findings are discussed in terms of theoretical models of intergenerational communication, in particular the communication predicament model. In addition, younger people's feelings of having “helped” an older person are discussed in the context of intergroup theory.


2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Gluth ◽  
Natalie C. Ebner ◽  
Florian Schmiedek

The present study used the German Aging Semantic Differential (ASD) to assess attitudes toward younger and older adults in a heterogeneous sample of n = 151 younger and n = 143 older adults. The questionnaire was administered in two versions, one referring to the evaluation of younger adults, the other to the evaluation of older adults. Multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis replicated the four-factor solution reported in the literature. Younger compared to older adults were rated as higher in terms of instrumentality (i.e., more active, adaptive to change) and integrity (i.e., more personally satisfied, at peace with oneself), whereas older adults were described as more autonomous and self-sufficient than younger adults. Younger participants reported more negative attitudes toward younger and older adults in some of the factors than did older participants. Structural equation modeling furthermore showed that attitudes correlated with personality characteristics and positive and negative affect, in that more agreeable, extraverted, and positively tempered participants reported less negative attitudes toward younger and older adults. Results are discussed in the context of multidimensional assessment of age stereotypes.


1999 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. Noels ◽  
Howard Giles ◽  
Deborah Cai ◽  
Lisa Turay

ABSTRACTThe present investigation examined older people's views on communication with younger and older adults to determine if older people's perceptions parallel research findings that suggest that young adults view intra-generational communication more positively than inter-generational communication. Additionally, drawing upon the Communication Predicament of Aging model (Ryan, Giles, Bartolucci, & Henwood, 1986), it considers how these perceptions relate to psychological health. In a first study, older and younger adults from the United States of America responded to a questionnaire survey about their experiences of talking to older and younger adults. The results of analyses of variance suggested that younger adults have less positive perceptions of inter-generational communication than older adults. Regression analyses examined the link between communication climate and psychological health indices, and suggested that psychological health is related to inter-generational and intra-generational communication variables for older participants. In a second study, variations in older adults' intra- and intergroup perceptions were compared across the United States and the People's Republic of China. Unlike their American peers, intergenerational communication was not a significant correlate of adjustment in the Chinese sample, although intragenerational variables were again implicated.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document