Stereotype Embodiment: A Psychosocial Approach to Aging

Abstract

Researchers have increasingly turned their attention from younger individuals who hold age stereotypes to older individuals who are targeted by these stereotypes. The refocused research has shown that positive and negative age stereotypes held by older individuals can have beneficial and detrimental effects, respectively, on a variety of cognitive and physical outcomes. Drawing on these experimental and longitudinal studies, a theory of stereotype embodiment is presented here. It proposes that stereotypes are embodied when their assimilation from the surrounding culture leads to self-definitions that, in turn, influence functioning and health. The theory has four components: The stereotypes (a) become internalized across the life span, (b) can operate unconsciously, (c) gain salience from self-relevance, and (d) utilize multiple pathways. The central message of the theory, and the research supporting it, is that the aging process is, in part, a social construct.

Fig. 1

Association of negative (blue) versus positive (red) age stereotypes held in younger adulthood to risk of cardiovascular events (e.g., congestive heart failures, heart attacks, and strokes) over the next 38 years. Adapted from Levy, Zonderman, Slade, and Ferrucci (2009), p. 297.

Fig. 2

Influence of subliminally primed age stereotypes on (A) systolic blood pressure, (B) diastolic blood pressure, and (C) skin conductance. Positive and negative age stereotypes generated decreased and increased cardiovascular response to stress, respectively. Reproduced from “Reducing Cardiovascular Stress With Positive Self-Stereotypes of Aging,” by B.R. Levy, J.M. Hausdorff, R. Hencke, & J.W. Wei, 2000, Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 55, p. P211. Copyright 2000, Gerontological Society of America. Reproduced with permission.