Ego-depletion and increased stereotyping of the older adults as forgetful in the Chinese culture

Abstract

The stereotype that older adults are forgetful is pervasive and leads to age-related prejudice and discrimination. We aimed to explore the influence of ego-depletion on forgetful stereotyping of older adults. Our participants were 65 adult college students (females = 23, mean age = 21.5 years, SD = 0.19 years). They engaged in ego-depletion/non-depletion tasks and stereotype self-report measures successively. Using a Stroop mismatch test and task measuring the level of stereotyping the older adults as forgetful, our findings following t-test between group comparison indicated individuals in a state of ego-depletion would judge the older adults as more forgetful than those not in this state. This result suggests that ego-depletion is related to increased stereotyping of the older adults as forgetful.