AGE STREOTYPES AND SELF-VİEWS İN LATER LİFE: EVALUATİNG RİVAL

ASSUMPTİONS

CEMALİYE SARCAN

EXPECTATİONS ABOUT OLD AGE

• Failing performance

• Physical unattractiveness

• Loneliness

• Morbidity

The present study focuses on;

• The effects that indivually held age

stereotypes may have on the self-views of

elderly people.

STEREOTYPE??

is “...a fixed, over generalized belief

about a particular group or class of

people.” (Cardwell, 1996). 

Stereotypes can be positive or negative.

For example, we could stereotype all

older people as cranky or we could

stereotype them as wise.

THREE ASSUMPTİONS

Concerning the relation between age streotypes and self-views in older people, 3 general assumptions are determined.

1. Contamination Hypothesis2. Comparison Hypothesis3. Externalisation Hypothesis

1. CONTAMİNATİON HYPOTHESİS

People tend to gradually include stereotyped views about age and aging into their self views.

Negative age stereotypes are acquired early in life

As people grow older, self-views become increasingly contaminated with negative implications of the age stereotype.

2.COMPARİSON THEORY

1. Social Comparison Theory

States that in the absence of objective measures for

self-evaluation, we compare ourselves to others to

find how we are doing.

a. Upward Comparison; ourselves vs. better than we are

b. Downward Comparison; ourselves vs. worse than we are.

Assumes that age stereotypes serve as a reference

standard for self enhancing

Old age automatically seems to activate a negative

age stereotype.

3. EXİSTENTİALİST HYPOTHESİS

Older people might revise prior expectations

about age and ageing on the basis of their

own experiences viewing own experiences as

common and typical = false consensus effect.

Indivually held age stereotypes are a

projection of elderly persons’ self-views.

SELF-VİEW A view of one's self; specifically,

carefulness or regard for one's own interests. According to the contamination hypothesis,

self-views are assimilated to previously held stereotyped views of the typical elderly.

According to externalisation hypothesis,A person’s self-views should influence her or his

views about elderly people in general.

EFFECTS OF AGE STEREOTYPES

Contamination effects are triggered by self-categorisation

as ‘old’!

Become more prevalent in old age

To counteract contamination effects, elderly people can

try to dissociate their self-concept from age stereotypes; By playing down the importance of negative aspects

of the stereotype By avoiding a self-categorization as ‘old’ (many elderly people report feeling less than they actually are)

Self-views can be defended against the influence of

a negative age stereotype;

By changing the criteria for ascribing personally

relevant attributes

By rescaling the personal importance of these

attributes.

Such adjustments represent an accomodative mode

of coping.

Older persons = accomodative flexibility

they are more prone to enrich the attribute ‘old’ with

positive meaning

Accomodative flexibility;

should help to protect the self-concept of elderly

people against contamination effects of

stereotyped expectations of the typical old

person.

The present study; Appraisals of the self and the typical old person were

assessed.

METHOD Sample;

Recruited from an urban area in south west Germany.

Participants were randomly selectedContacted by e-mailMiddle and old age (54 to77 yrs)Longitudinal interval of 8 yrs690 participants

Measures of self-evaluation and individual age stereotype; Self evaluations, stereotypes of the typical old person,

were assessed by semantic differential. Contained 32 pairs of antonyms (e.g. Patient-

impatient)

ACCOMODATİVE FLEXİBİLİTY

Flexible Goal Adjustment is measure of accomodative flexibilityAssesses the readiness to adjust goalsReadiness to find positive meanings in

aversive situations

+ I find it easy to see something positive even in a serious event. - I am never really satisfied unless things come up to my wishes exactly.

RESULTS Global ratings for the typical old person

were much more negative than the self-

ratings.

People who score high on FGA tended to

view the typical old person more positively.

Similarity between patterns of self ratings

and stereotype ratings was more

pronounced for older participants and for

participants scoring low on the FGA scale.

Conforming to the contamination hypothesis;

Stereotyped expectations about elderly people predicted later self-appraisals.

Conforming to the externalisation hypothesis;

Self-views had an influence on individually held age stereotype.

DİSCUSSİON

People score high on;dispositional variable seem capable of

protecting theirselves from negative stereotypes.

FGA seem more able to dissociate problems.

Age stereotypes taint (lekelemek) self-evaluations.

REFERENCE

Rothermund,K. & Brandtstädter, J. (2003).  Age stereotypes,

self-views in later life: Evaluating rival assumptions.

 International Journal of Behavioral Development, 27, 549-

554.