Age-based Stereotypes Research Articles

Nonprototypical Managers: The Identity Work of Young Managers in Relation to Age-Based Stereotypes

To be a young manager is to deviate from the norm, because youth and management are perceived as contradictory social positions. Thus, young managers are positioned as nonprototypical, which poses challenges to gaining acceptance and claiming the managerial identity. In this multicase interview study, we show how available social prototypes of management and self-to-prototype comparisons are important as young managers approach the identity work process. We conducted interviews (N = 38) and workshops (N = 6) in three business sectors with young and senior managers, subordinates, and those performing support functions. Based on an analysis of these interviews and workshops, we developed a theoretical model illustrating how young managers use implicit theories of leadership (ILT) to reduce the incongruity between internal self-conceptions and external prototypes of management as a benchmark toward managerial identity, revealing three main approaches to identity work. Young managers approach age-based drawbacks by acting based on noncontextualized ILTs, making adjustments in relation to available prototypes, and by making self-to-prototype insights. Our findings augment the identity work theory by providing an age perspective on this process and highlight the importance of future research engaging in depth with age as a sociodemographic factor in relation to the managerial role.

For the sake of my job security: examining the effect of age-based stereotype threat on older workers’ knowledge hiding

Purpose Organizations can greatly benefit from the transfer of knowledge from older employees to younger generations. However, older workers often hesitate to share their expertise with their younger colleagues. Grounded in conservation of resources theory and the stereotype threat framework, this study aims at examining the negative impact of age-based stereotype threat on organizational knowledge management. Design/methodology/approach The authors developed a moderated mediation model and collected data from 219 older workers with a time-lagged design to explore the effect of age-based stereotype threat on older workers’ knowledge hiding. Findings The results showed that age-based stereotype threat could lead to knowledge hiding behaviors among older workers due to increased job insecurity, and leader-member exchange can potentially mitigate these effects. Originality/value The findings underscore the detrimental effect of age-based stereotype threat on organizational knowledge management and suggest that organizations should foster an age-inclusive environment to facilitate effective intergenerational knowledge transfer.

Utopian Method

We analyze reader responses to Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book to suggest the novel offers a platform from which to imagine new, often utopian, thresholds of aging and intergenerational relationships. We suggest the way literature encourages utopian thinking is two-fold, allowing readers to reflect on the current state of the world around them and encouraging them to reimagine new possibilities. The aim of the reading groups was to use the novel to reflect on current age norms – socially, culturally, and politically – and reimagine new social futures relating to intergenerational relationships. In this paper, we discuss the findings from using The Summer Book as a platform to discuss attitudes to aging, time, intergenerational relationships, and age expectations. Participants opened up a number of avenues to reimagine age expectations, categories, and relationships, whilst also relating the fiction to their own experiences, which then often translated into discussions of how age-based stereotypes and intergenerational relationships need to be radically rethought. There were three main themes that we identified from these discussions: 1) countering age-expectations on the intergenerational island, 2) creating counter-narratives through the character of the Grandmother, 3) using the novel’s relational behaviors and practices to imagine better futures for intergenerational relationships.

Age-based stereotype threat in the workplace: A daily diary study of antecedents and mechanisms.

Both older and younger employees are stereotyped at work, making them susceptible to age-based stereotype threat or the concern about being negatively stereotyped based on their age. To date, there is limited understanding of the workplace events that spark age-based stereotype threat and the mechanisms through which they do so. The current daily diary study aimed to assess the frequency with which older and younger employees experience various events that have been identified as potential antecedents of age-based stereotype threat (e.g., being overlooked for training or development opportunities, feeling excluded from informal socializing) as well as their association with experiences of stereotype threat. As predicted, we found that employees who reported more frequent experiences of these events subsequently reported greater feelings of stereotype threat. This association was partially mediated by the capacity of these events to increase the salience of a participant's age. There was also evidence of reciprocal association, whereby employees who felt more stereotype threat were also more likely to subsequently report experiencing these events. Employee age did not moderate the relationship between daily feelings of stereotype threat and daily outcomes, suggesting that everyday feelings of stereotype threat may be equally problematic for both older and younger employees. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Age-based stereotype threat effects on dynamic balance in healthy older adults.

Stereotype threat can lead older adults to perceive their experiences in a biased manner, giving rise to interfering thoughts and negative emotions that generate stress and anxiety. Negative beliefs about aging may serve as an additional factor that increases the need for attentional demand, potentially resulting in a performance level below their actual capabilities. In the present study, we asked whether negative aging stereotypes influence a dynamic balance task and explored the means to counteract them in healthy elderly participants. The performance of balance was compared in two groups of participants aged 65 to 75 years (n = 22) under stereotype threat or reduced-threat situation. Balance abilities were tested under dynamic conditions, requiring participants to maintain balance on a moving platform and using a gradient of difficulty (with eyes open or closed, without or with foam). Postural performance was evaluated by means of posturographic evaluation of the center of pressure displacement and motion analysis. Additionally, we investigated the effects of stereotype threat on a preferred walking speed task and on the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test. Participants under stereotype threat showed poorer balance, particularly in challenging conditions (eyes closed, on foam), with less effective body segments stabilization. Their postural stabilization on foam was worse compared to a solid surface. Conversely, those in the reduced threat condition maintained better body segment stabilization across all conditions, indicating consistent postural control regardless of the presence of foam. Stereotype threat did not affect preferred walking speed or the time to complete the "Time Up and Go" test. This study provides the first description of age-based stereotype threat effects on a dynamic balance task and how to counteract them in healthy older adults. We suggest that the decrease in postural performance observed in participants exposed to stereotype threat can be attributed to a split in attentional focus between negative intrusive thoughts and the attention needed for maintaining balance. These findings open new perspectives on how to overcome negative expectations when evaluating and training physical abilities, thereby contributing to fall prevention among older adults.

Age-Based Stereotype Threat and Elder Worker’s Knowledge Hiding: The Role of Job Insecurity and LMX

Age-Based Stereotype Threat and Elder Worker’s Knowledge Hiding: The Role of Job Insecurity and LMX

Openness to experience, a personality trait that reduces susceptibility to memory age-based stereotype threat.

Age-based stereotype threat (ABST), the concern of being judged according to a negative age stereotype may lead to underperformance in the stereotype domain. The present study aims to replicate the negative effect of ABST on episodic memory. Importantly, we further examine openness to experience as a potential buffer of the ABST effect as well as the role that different memory strategies may play in episodic memory performance. Seventy-five older adults were randomly assigned to the ABST condition or the control condition before taking a word-stem cued recall memory task. They learned word-lists with either a repetition strategy, low resource demanding but less efficient, or a mental imagery strategy, high resource demanding but more efficient. Openness was measured with the Big-5 personality questionnaire. ABST reduced memory performance and disrupted more the recall of words learned with the imagery strategy. The results also showed that openness predicted recall performance associated with the imagery strategy only in the threatened group. These results indicated that a high level in openness may disrupt the negative effect of ABST by improving the capacity of threatened people to execute efficient, resource demanding memory strategies. This finding supports the idea that contextual factors as well as individual characteristics such as personality, need to be considered when assessing episodic memory in aging.

Effects of age-based stereotype threat on time-based prospective memory.

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of a blatant activation of age-based stereotype threats (ABST) on time-based prospective memory (TBPM) in older adults. A sample of 74 adults from Hong Kong was randomly assigned to one of the two experimental conditions: the stereotyped condition (n = 36) or the neutral condition (n = 38). Participants were asked to read fictitious news reports related to dementia (stereotyped condition) or the importance of English oral skills (neutral condition). After, all participants performed a TBPM task using the Chinese lexical decision task as an ongoing task block. The results indicate a main effect of ABST on TBPM accuracy. Specifically, older adults under a blatant activation of ABST demonstrated lower TBPM accuracy (p < 0.05, ηp2 = 0.08). Further analyses based on age groups demonstrated that TBPM accuracy was only impaired in older participants (aged 70-80 years) (p < 0.05, ηp2 = 0.19). The study, for the first time, provides evidence that ABST can disrupt TBPM performance in older adults, especially when cues are blatantly activated.

Examining the Utility of a Multiple Group Membership Intervention for Alleviating the Effects of Age-Based Stereotype Threat on Older adults’ Memory Performance

ABSTRACT This study examined the effectiveness of a multiple group membership intervention for reducing the negative effects of age-based stereotype threat (ABST) on older adults’ objective memory performance and subjective memory concerns. Healthy older adults (N = 68) were randomly allocated to an ABST + threat-removal (ABST+TR) or ABST + active-control (ABST+AC) condition. After activating ABST, the ABST+TR condition completed a group-listing task and the ABST+AC condition completed a meal-listing task. Participants then completed the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) and Everyday Memory Questionnaire – Revised. One significant difference was found in memory performance between conditions; specifically, after controlling for age, gender, and number of items listed, those in the ABST+TR condition performed significantly better on the RAVLT memory interference trial. Further, listing a greater number of group memberships was associated with better memory performance in the ABST+TR condition. No significant difference was found in subjective memory concerns between the ABST+TR condition and the ABST+AC condition. Overall, the current findings indicated that raising the salience of multiple group memberships offered limited protection for older adults’ cognitive test performance in the context of ABST.

Overcoming age differences in memory retrieval by reducing stereotype threat.

Very little is known about whether and how socioemotional factors influence age differences in associative memory. Here, we tested the hypothesis that reducing the threat induced by age-based stereotypes can reduce age differences in learning performance and strategy. Using an associative learning task, we replicated the classic finding of age differences under a high-threat condition: older adults had longer reaction times than younger adults and were much more reluctant to use memory retrieval. However, age differences were greatly diminished under a low-threat condition. These findings demonstrate that memory retrieval is an ability not entirely lost as individuals age because merely reducing stereotype threat helped restoring it. We conclude that socioemotional factors, such as stereotype threat, should be considered when evaluating younger and older adults' memory performance.

Interactions across the ages: How concerns about warmth and competence impact age-based stereotype threat in the workplace.

Although the disengagement consequences of age-based stereotype threat in the workplace are well-documented, it is less clear what causes employees to experience age-based stereotype threat. Based on socioemotional selectivity theory, the present study examines whether and why daily cross-age interactions in the workplace lead to stereotype threat. Using a diary study design over 2 weeks, 192 employees (86 employees aged 30 and younger; 106 employees aged 50 and older), completed 3570 reports on daily interactions with coworkers. Results showed that both younger and older employees experienced stereotype threat when they engaged in cross-age interactions compared to interactions with people of a similar age. The characteristics of cross-age interactions that led employees to experience stereotype threat differed by age, however. Consistent with socioemotional selectivity theory, cross-age interactions were problematic for younger employees to the degree that they triggered concerns about competence, whereas concerns about warmth led to stereotype threat among older employees. Daily stereotype threat was associated with reduced feelings of workplace belonging for both younger and older employees but, contrary to expectations, stereotype threat was not related to energy and stress. These findings suggest that cross-age interactions can lead to stereotype threat for both younger and older employees, particularly when younger employees worry they are perceived as incompetent or older employees worry they are perceived as less warm. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Organizational Age Scale: New Lenses to Assess the Ageing of Workers

Few studies have focused on the aging process within the specific context of organizations (Thomas et al., 2014), due to a lack of adequate measures to assess who is an older worker and on what basis do we define such a worker. This paper introduces such a measure, namely the Organizational Age Scale (OAS) comprised of subjective age-related indicators stemming from the work context (Sterns &amp; Doverspike, 1989; McCarthy et al., 2014; Kooij et al., 2008). More specifically, the OAS measures the individual’s perception of his-her own aging as a worker along five dimensions: obsolescence, age norms, career stage, time remaining in the workplace and opportunities for professional development. Such a tool helps identifies workers at risk of embodying negative age-based stereotypes and thus may counter the negative consequences that can result from self-ageism.

Ambivalent Bias at Work: Managers’ Perceptions of Older Workers across Organizational Contexts

Managerial bias is a major source of workplace inequality and a central target of employer diversity efforts, yet we know little about the content of stereotypes and where they prevail. Stereotypes can be ambivalent, mixing negative and positive dimensions. Ambivalent stereotypes can rationalize discriminatory decision-making but they may also be more amenable to change. This article examines the prevalence of wholly negative and ambivalent age-based stereotypes across organizational contexts. Data on 551 managers reveals, first, that the modal manager holds ambivalent stereotypes about older workers, with positive perceptions of their personal attributes and negative perceptions regarding their employability. Second, both negative and ambivalent stereotypes are common in the presence of a labour union. Their prevalence declines, however, in different contexts: ambivalent stereotypes decline with increased intergroup contact and negative stereotypes decline when accountability triggers are implmented. Implications for research on work, organizations, older workers, and diversity management are discussed.

Using art and creative practice to provide education about ageism and age stereotypes

ABSTRACT Addressing ageism (prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination based on age) is paramount to the general health and well-being of all persons. Providing aging education, challenging deep-seated stereotypes about aging, and facilitating intergenerational connection are promising ways to reduce ageism. In the following manuscript, we detail how to promote aging education and community-based discussions using two novel art programs: 1) community-oriented educational programs on menopause; 2) a university course which used creative practice and art as a lens to explore aging and challenge age-based stereotypes. Future research should focus on expanding the use of art and creative practice for individuals in various settings (e.g. academic, community) to challenge negative stereotypes of older adults and facilitate intergenerational connections.

Toward a New Approach to Investigate the Role of Working Memory in Stereotype Threat Effects.

Stereotype threat arises when the activation of negative stereotypes about a group impairs performance of stigmatized individuals on stereotype relevant tasks. There is ample evidence that stereotype threat leads to performance detriments by consuming executive resources. Several studies indeed showed that working memory (WM) mediates stereotype threat effects among young adults. More recently, researchers have sought to understand whether the same mechanisms underlie age-based stereotype threat, but findings are mixed regarding the role of WM and some authors rather favor a motivational explanation based on regulatory fit. The present review critically appraises the empirical support for distinct forms of stereotype threat effects mediated by distinct mechanisms. We propose a novel approach based on one of the most recent WM models, the time-based resource sharing model, to evaluate the impact of stereotype threat on attentional resources in WM among both young and older adults.

The temporal dynamics of age metastereotyping and thriving at work

ABSTRACT While extensive research has been carried out on thriving at work enablers, scarce attention has been devoted to the factors that may obstruct thriving. This daily diary study builds on the age-based metastereotype activation model to fill this research gap. According to this model, employees may challenge negative age-based metastereotypes (NABM) or feel threatened by them. Thus, this study examines the role of age-based stereotype threat (ABST) in the thriving experience – a combined sense of learning and vitality – and analyzes whether perceived age similarity moderates the threat reaction to NABM. Data were collected over the course of five consecutive workdays from 82 white-collar employees, most of whom were working in the services sector. The findings indicate that NABM have next-day consequences. Specifically, NABM directly obstruct next-day vitality levels and indirectly overall employee thriving and learning through ABST, highlighting thriving dimensions’ distinctiveness. Additionally, moderation analyses showed a “safety‑in‑numbers-effect” of perceived age similarity. As existing accounts fail to specify the time cycle of NABM consequences in the workplace, this study contributes to the ageism literature by advancing next-day effects of NABM on thriving.

“Oldies come bottom of Grim Reaper hierarchy” : A framing analysis of UK newspaper coverage of old age and risk of dying during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

AbstractThis article examines UK newspaper coverage during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic March-August 2020. A qualitative framing analysis of public messaging on age in five high circulation newspapers provides a detailed account of who is deemed to be at risk of dying from COVID-19. Newspapers represent older people as most at risk, with disability as a secondary factor. Reports on who is responsible, who is at risk, and who is to blame for deaths from COVID-19 are framed as issues of public health and generational fairness, with individual responsibility occupying a prominent role. We also find two counter-frames. First, in letters to the editor, older people’s pleas for freedom are framed as a fight for their civil liberties. Second, newspapers praise 99-year-old Captain Tom Moore and frame his behaviour as a source of national pride. We identify this as positive ageism. We conclude that reporting across progressive and conservative newspapers reflects age-based stereotypes and paternalism towards older people. Public figures are represented as scapegoats or heroes, offering distraction from the less newsworthy fact that long-term under-investment in social care increased the risk of dying amongst the old and disabled during the pandemic.

Health practitioner beliefs regarding the impact of age-based stereotype threat on performance in the cognitive assessment of older adults

Objectives Health practitioners’ understanding of the impact of age-based stereotype threat (ABST) on the cognitive test performance of older adults is not well understood. This study aimed to investigate health practitioners’ ability to recognize the influence of ABST in the cognitive assessment of older adults and their perceptions of its impact in practice. Methods One-hundred and twenty-nine health practitioners (86% female; M age = 39.75, SD = 11.50) with experience in conducting cognitive assessments with older adults (mainly psychologists and occupational therapists) completed an online survey assessing demographic and practice characteristics, aging beliefs, a hypothetical cognitive assessment scenario, and perceived impact of ABST on practice. Results Overall, health practitioners rated ABST factors in the assessment scenario as less detrimental to cognitive performance than internal and external factors. In a hierarchical regression model, lower recognition of ABST and negative aging beliefs significantly accounted for lower perceived impact of ABST on older adults’ cognitive test performance in practice (R 2 = .37, p < .001). Conclusion Health practitioners may not recognize the influence of ABST on assessment findings, especially if they hold negative aging beliefs. The findings highlight the need to improve health practitioners’ knowledge of ABST to increase the validity of cognitive testing in older adults.

Age-based stereotype threat and neuropsychological performance in older adults

ABSTRACT The current study investigated the effects of age-based stereotype threat on neuropsychological assessment outcomes in an older adult population. Community volunteers (n = 49) age 65 and older were screened for cognitive impairment, depression, and anticholinergic medication use. Screened individuals were randomly stratified into either an ABST or a Control group. All participants were administered a broad range of neuropsychological measures of cognition as well as a self-rating measure assessing subjective concern about cognitive ability. A main effect of ABST on subjective concern about cognitive ability was supported. Specifically, individuals in the ABST group were significantly more likely to attribute their memory errors to the onset of dementia (F(1,41) = 5.334, p = .026). However, results showed no significant difference between groups on objective neuropsychological performance measures. The current study discusses the importance of considering ABST effects in the context of neuropsychological assessment in older adult populations.

Testing the Shielding Effect of Intergenerational Contact against Ageism in the Workplace: A Canadian Study.

Negative outcomes of ageism in the context of the Canadian labor market are well documented. Older workers remain the target of age-based stereotypes and attitudes on the part of employers. This study aims at assessing (1) the extent to which quality and quantity intergroup contacts between younger and older workers as well as knowledge-sharing practices reduce ageist attitudes, in turn (2) how a decrease in ageist attitudes increase the level of workers’ engagement and intentions to remain in the organization. Data were collected from 603 Canadian workers (aged 18 to 68 years old) from private and public organizations using an online survey measuring concepts under study. Results of a path analysis suggest that intergroup contacts and knowledge-sharing practices are associated with positive attitudes about older workers. More so, positive attitudes about older workers generate higher levels of work engagement, which in turn are associated with stronger intentions to remain with the organization. However, positive attitudes about older workers had no effect on intentions to remain in the workplace. Results are discussed in light of the intergroup contact theory.