Does Aging Affect the Use of Shifting Standards?

Abstract

Prior research on the use of stereotypes in social judgments has shown that whether young adults make stereotype-consistent or -inconsistent judgments depends in part upon the response scale that is used. This shifting standards effect in stereotype use was examined in the present study to determine whether older adults, who tend to rely on stereotypes more than younger adults, would also show a similar effect. Young and older adults evaluated the height of male and female targets using either an objective or subjective scale. No age differences were found, with both age groups producing stereotype-consistent judgments (i.e., men are taller than women) on an objective scale, but stereotype-inconsistent judgments (i.e., men and women are equally tall) on a subjective scale. These results suggest that the shifting standards effect holds across the adult life span.