Contexts of aging: assessing evaluative age stereotypes in different life domains

Abstract

Objectives: Research on age stereotypes suggests that views of older persons are complex and multidimensional. We investigated the positivity or negativity of age stereotypes with respect to different life domains.

Method: A newly developed questionnaire assessing domain-specific age stereotypes was administered to a large sample of adults covering a wide age range.

Results: Our findings confirm the existence of independent domain-specific age stereotypes, providing evidence for a multifaceted and complex view of old age and aging. "Old persons" were evaluated differently in the various life domains, and age thresholds for ascriptions of being old differed between domains. Furthermore, the positivity of domain-specific age stereotypes of a person predicted individual life satisfaction for the respective life domain. The strength of the relationship between age stereotypes and life satisfaction increased with participants' age.

Discussion: Our results indicate the existence of domain-specific age stereotypes that become internalized into older persons' self-views.