Negative Stereotype Infusion

RUNNING HEAD: Age stereotypes, self-views, and well-being

Age Stereotypes, Self-Views, and Well-Being in Later Life: Evaluating Rival Assumptions

Klaus Rothermund and Jochen Brandtstädter University of Trier

Address: Dr. Klaus Rothermund University of Trier Department of Psychology D-54286 Trier Germany

Phone: ++49 651 2012972 Fax: ++49 651 2012971 E-Mail: [email protected]

Negative Stereotype Infusion

1 Abstract

Concerning the relation between age stereotypes, self-views, and well-being in older people, three lines of argument can be distinguished: Whereas cognitive theories of aging posit that age stereotypes contaminate the self-views of older people (infusion hypothesis), recent positions also emphasize potential self-enhancing effects of negative age stereotypes. A comparison hypothesis predicts that age stereotypes serve as a reference standard for selfenhancing comparisons, and an externalization hypothesis holds that individually held age stereotypes are a projection of elderly person‘s self-views. Empirical implications of the different hypotheses were tested on data from a cross-sequential study assessing self-ratings and ratings of the “typical old person” over a longitudinal interval of 8 years in a sample of 690 participants (initial age range 54–77 years). In general, the infusion hypothesis found the strongest support. Stereotyped expectations about elderly people predicted later selfappraisals and tended to boost rather than dampen the detrimental impact of negative selfappraisals on well-being. Findings also highlight the importance of differential factors: A disposition to flexibly disengage from blocked goals (Flexible Goal Adjustment; Brandtstädter & Renner, 1990) seems to shield self-views from ego-deflating influences of negative age stereotypes. (186 words)

Key words: Age Stereotypes, Successful Aging, Comparison Processes

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Age Stereotypes, Self-Views, and Well-Being in Later Life: Evaluating Rival Assumptions

Substantial agreement exists that generalized expectations about age and aging across all age groups are tainted by negative connotations of failing performance, physical unattractiveness, loneliness, and morbidity (e.g., Green, 1981; Heckhausen, Dixon, & Baltes, 1989; Hummert, 1999; Kite & Johnson, 1988; Lutsky, 1980; McTavish, 1971). Such stigmatizing connotations have been documented amply in questionnaire studies using explicit measures of evaluation (e.g., attitude scales, semantic differentials, sentence completion) as well as in experimental studies employing implicit measures such as semantic priming techniques (Perdue & Gurtman, 1990; Rothermund, Wentura, & Brandtstädter, 1995; Wentura, Dräger, & Brandtstädter, 1997) or the Implicit Association Test (Karpinski & Hilton, in press; Nosek, Banaji, & Greenwald, in press; Rothermund & Wentura, in press). The present study focuses on the effects that individually held stereotypes may have on the self-views and well-being of elderly people. This is an issue upon which opinions tend to diverge. In a first approximation, we can discern two basic assumptions that, although not mutually exclusive in any strict sense, have different empirical implications. A first line of argument has its roots in theories of social comparison (e.g., Festinger, 1954; Wills, 1981; Wood, 1989) and assumes that age stereotypes serve—or can serve—as a reference standard for self-enhancing downward comparisons (“comparison hypothesis”; e.g., Heckhausen & Krueger, 1993; Heidrich & Ryff, 1993a, 1993b; Rickabaugh & Tomlinson, 1997; RobinsonWhelen & Kiecolt-Glaser, 1997; Suls, Marco, & Tobin, 1991).1 This view can be contrasted with an assumption originally advanced by labeling

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approaches and cognitive theories of aging (e.g., Kuypers & Bengtson, 1973; Rodin & Langer, 1980; Thomae, 1970). According to this second line of argument, people tend to gradually incorporate stereotyped views about age and aging into their self-views (“infusion hypothesis”). A corollary to this view is that negative age stereotypes are acquired early in life, at a time when they have no strong self-referential implications. Thus, self-views should become contaminated with negative implications of the age stereotype as people grow older. Having internalized negative connotations of old age and aging before being personally affected might render older people particularly vulnerable to negative influences of the age stereotype (cf. Crocker & Major, 1989; Goffman, 1963). Using concepts that have been introduced in social-psychological research on judgmental processes, the comparison hypothesis predicts a contrast effect, whereas the infusion hypothesis predicts an assimilation effect (Schwarz & Bless, 1992). In the case of a contrast effect, positive self-appraisals should be enhanced by a negative age stereotype, so that, on a correlational level, more negative appraisals of the “typical old person” should be accompanied by a more positive self-view. In the case of an assimilation effect, on the other hand, we should expect negative appraisals of the stereotype to map onto self-appraisals in ways that produce a positive association between both ratings. There is empirical evidence for such a positive relationship (O‘Gorman, 1980) that seems to favor interpretations in terms of an assimilation effect. This interpretation, however, is not strictly conclusive: A positive relationship might also obtain when attitudes or experiences related to one‘s own aging are projected—perhaps in exaggerated form—onto personal construals of the typical old person. By appraising own problems as being “normal” or typical for one‘s age, the person might alleviate the emotional turmoil that would otherwise result from experiences of loss and

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constraint. A similar argument was advanced by Heckhausen and Brim (1997) under the notion of “social downgrading.” Furthermore, older people might also revise prior expectations about age and aging on the basis of their own experiences (Brubaker & Powers, 1976; Whitbourne, 1985). In the following, we shall refer to these alternative accounts as the “externalization hypothesis.” Regarding empirical implications of the three hypotheses, a positive relationship between self-appraisals and stereotype appraisals already renders the assumption of selfenhancing contrasts (as assumed by the comparison hypothesis) less plausible than accounts in terms of infusion or externalization effects. To discern between the two latter accounts, however, a more powerful combination of correlational and sequential or time-lagged observations is obviously needed. One might object at this point that negative age stereotypes could also function as an “interactive buffer” that mitigates the negative impact of losses and constraints on personal well-being. While conforming with comparison accounts, such buffering effects would be inconsistent with an infusion hypothesis: The negative impact of experienced losses on well-being should be boosted rather than dampened when these losses are construed as confirming a negative stereotype and its threatening implications for future personal development. Table 1 summarizes the arguments so far by contrasting the three basic hypotheses—comparison, infusion, and externalization—and their empirical implications. This scheme serves as a guiding framework for the following analyses.

Table 1

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Effects of Age Stereotypes: The Question of Interindividual Differences

The preceding arguments have focused on the consequences of negative age stereotypes on the self-appraisals and well-being of older people in general. Elderly people, however, may differ not only with regard to their stereotyped views about age and aging but also with regard to the ways in which these views affect self-evaluations. For instance, own findings suggest that older persons who are disposed to flexibly disengage from blocked goals (as measured by the scale of “Flexible Goal Adjustment,” Brandtstädter & Renner, 1990) harbor a more positive attitude toward aging and are more prone to enrich the attribute “old” with positive meaning (Brandtstädter, Rothermund, & Schmitz, 1997, 1998; Rothermund et al., 1995; Wentura et al., 1997). Likewise, whether and to what extent assimilation or contrast effects dominate in the interplay between self-views and stereotyped expectations may depend on factors that vary systematically between individuals. It might plausibly be argued that some people are more capable than others of dissociating their self-concept from stereotyped expectations, for instance, by playing down the importance of negative aspects of the stereotype (cf. Brandtstädter & Rothermund, 1994; Crocker & Major, 1989; Greve, 1990; Kling, Ryff, & Essex, 1997) or by avoiding a self-categorization as old (elderly people notoriously report feeling less old than they actually are; Baum & Boxley, 1983; Filipp & Ferring, 1989; Heckhausen & Krueger, 1993; Montepare & Lachman, 1989).

Overview

In the present study, appraisals of the self and of the “typical old person” were

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assessed repeatedly over a longitudinal interval of 8 years in a core sample of 690 participants in the initial age range from 54 to 77 years.2 The cross-sequential design affords methodological options that may help to clarify some of the issues addressed above. Beyond the analysis of age-graded change in stereotypes and self-definitions, the longitudinal format permits a comparison of time-lagged effects. The assessment procedure also involved measures of life-satisfaction and depression that served as outcome variables for the analysis of effects of personal age stereotypes on well-being and successful aging. In the analysis of differential effects, we focus on the construct of “Flexible Goal Adjustment” that has been found to predict differences in adjustment to old age and to buffer negative effects of agerelated losses on well-being (Brandtstädter & Renner, 1990; Brandtstädter, Wentura, & Rothermund, 1999).

Method

Sample

Participants were recruited from an urban area in southwestern Germany. For crosssequential comparisons, they were evenly grouped into six birth cohorts (age ranges refer to the first occasion of measurement, 1991): Cohort I, 54 to 57 years, Cohort II, 58 to 61 years, Cohort III, 62 to 65 years, Cohort IV, 66 to 69 years, Cohort V, 70 to 73 years, and Cohort VI, 74 to 77 years (initial sample size was N = 1,256; 635 women, 621 men). In terms of occupational status, income level, and education, the sample was fairly representative of the general population in this age range.

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Longitudinal data over an 8-year interval were available for a core sample of 690 participants (54.9% of the initial sample; number of respondents contributing data at both measurement occasions within Cohorts I to VI: 144, 136, 137, 110, 99, and 64, respectively). Attrition patterns were examined by comparing dropouts and persisters on variables assessed at the first measurement occasion. On average, dropouts were 3.5 years older than persisters, t(1254) = -9.25, p < .001. Dropouts also reported lower life satisfaction (18.3 vs. 19.6, t[1241] = 4.22, p < .001), and higher depression (14.2 vs. 12.7, t[1243] = -3.55, p < .001). No selective attrition effects were observed on other variables involved in the present study.

Measures

Assessment of Self-Evaluations and Individual Age Stereotypes Self-evaluations as well as stereotypes of the “typical old person” were assessed using a semantic differential that containing 32 pairs of antonyms covering a broad range of personality attributes (e.g., patient - impatient, self-confident - diffident, attractive unattractive, optimistic - pessimistic; the anchoring of attributes as positive and negative was confirmed by separate ideal-self ratings). Ratings were given separately for each antonym pair on 11-point bipolar scales (e.g., patient 5-4-3-2-1-0-1-2-3-4-5 impatient) and were recoded so that extreme ratings on the negative and positive side received a 1 or 11, respectively. To obtain a global index of the positivity of the self and the stereotype, individual ratings were averaged across attributes (up to 10% missing values were tolerated). The aggregation yielded highly homogeneous scales (see Table 2).

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Table 2

Reference Measures Cross-sequential assessments also included the Life-Satisfaction Index (LSI; Neugarten, Havighurst, & Tobin, 1961) and a short version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS; Sheik & Yesavage, 1986). In the present context, these scales are of interest as potential outcome measures. The scale of Flexible Goal Adjustment (FGA; Brandtstädter & Renner, 1990) was included as a measure of accommodative flexibility. As intimated above, the flexibility construct is of particular interest for gauging differential and interaction effects. Internal consistencies were satisfactory for all reference measures (see Table 2).

Results

Cross-Sequential Patterns

The first set of analyses addressed age-related change in self-evaluations and age stereotypes. Effects of measurement occasion, cohort, and gender on the self-ratings and stereotype ratings (aggregated positivity scores) were assessed by separate 2 × 6 × 2 MANOVAs. For self-ratings, only the interaction of measurement occasion and cohort was significant, F(5,599) = 2.50, p < .05 (all other Fs < 1.13, ns). Polynomial contrasts revealed that this interaction effect was largely due to the linear cohort trend, t(599) = -2.73, p < .01. Self-evaluations were fairly stable across the 8-year longitudinal interval for the younger cohorts, but became more negative with advancing age in the oldest cohorts. Ratings of the

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typical old person revealed a main effect of measurement occasion, F(1,588) = 20.55, p < .001. Across cohorts, the typical old person was perceived more positively with advancing age. Other effects remained nonsignificant throughout, all Fs < 1.10, ns. Figure 1 illustrates the cross-sequential findings.

Figure 1

An analysis involving both ratings as dependent variables substantiated the differences between the two cross-sequential patterns. Self-ratings were clearly more positive than ratings for the typical old person, F(1,577) = 1144.80, p < .001. An interaction of measurement occasion with rating target was found, F(1,577) = 12.89, p < .001: Whereas self-ratings remained stable across measurement occasions, ratings for the typical old person increased over the 8-year longitudinal interval. Additionally, a three-way interaction of measurement occasion, rating type, and cohort emerged, F(5,577) = 2.54; p < .05, which, however, was difficult to interpret (polynomial contrasts indicated that the cubic trend of the cohort factor was modulated by measurement occasion and rating target). Other effects did not attain significance, all Fs < 1.61, ns. Supplementary analyses produced a strong positive correlation between Flexible Goal Adjustment and self-evaluations, r = .44, p < .001. People scoring high on FGA also tended to view the typical old person more positively, r = .08, p = .05, which is consistent with earlier observations (Rothermund et al., 1995; Wentura et al., 1997). Correlations of FGA with longitudinal change scores in self-evaluations and age stereotypes were nonsignificant, both *r* < .02, ns.

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Relationships Between Age Stereotypes and Self-Evaluations

To gauge effects of individually held stereotypes on self-evaluations, different methodological options were used. A largely consistent picture emerged from these analyses. 1. On the level of bivariate correlations, more negative age stereotypes tended to be accompanied by a more negative view of the self, r = .12, p < .01. Moderated multiple regressions (Aiken & West, 1991) involving the FGA measure, however, revealed that this association was dampened by accommodative flexibility (the regression weight for the product term FGA × Stereotype was negative, â = -.75, t[573] = -2.11, p < .05). Apparently, FGA shields self-evaluations from being contaminated with a negative age stereotype. 2. The analysis of individual profile intercorrelations between the semantic differential ratings for the self and the typical old person further substantiated these effects.3 These individual profile correlations were distributed with M = .23, SD = .26, which deviates significantly from a theoretical distribution for unrelated profiles, t(576) = 20.55, p < .001. Self-descriptions on the attributes of the semantic differential related positively to descriptions of the typical old person. The magnitude of the individual correlation coefficients increased with age, r = .13, p < .01, and showed a negative association with Flexible Goal Adjustment (FGA), r = -.14, p < .01. Interestingly, a strong interaction effect of age and FGA was observed, â = -1.71, t(567) = -3.30, p = .001. For participants scoring high on FGA, the correspondence between age stereotypes and self-evaluations did not increase with age. Figure 2 illustrates this pattern of effects (high and low values on FGA represent the 10th and 90th percentile of the sample distribution, respectively).

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Figure 2

3. Further insight into the causal dynamics underlying the above relationships could be gained from a consideration of time-lagged effects. In a first analysis, longitudinal change scores for the self-ratings were predicted from initial ratings for the typical old person and vice versa. None of these effects attained statistical significance, both *â* < .05, *t* < 1.02, ns. However, FGA was found to moderate the effect of initial stereotype ratings on subsequent change in self-appraisals, â = -.96, t(579) = -2.75, p < .01. For people scoring low on the FGA scale, self-evaluations tended to converge with initial stereotype ratings over time, suggesting an assimilation effect. For people scoring high on FGA, on the other hand, a contrast effect emerged; that is, a negative stereotype predicted a positive change in selfevaluations. In contrast, effects of initial self-evaluations on subsequent change in the individually held age stereotypes were not moderated by FGA and age, â = -.37, *t* < 1. 4. Similar differential effects were obtained when the change in the profile of selfratings across the 32 bipolar attributes was predicted from respondents‘ stereotype profile. The individual beta weights for these predictions were distributed with M = .09, SD = .20. The mean of this distribution deviates significantly from zero, t(576) = 10.33, p < .001. For the opposite prediction (change in the profile of stereotype ratings regressed on initial selfratings), the relationship was somewhat lower but still positive: Individual betas were distributed with M = .06, SD = .23, t(576) = 6.80, p < .001. The first result supports the infusion hypothesis: Over the longitudinal interval, self-descriptions tended to drift in the direction of initial stereotype ratings. At the same time, however, there was some evidence for a projection or externalization effect, that is, later stereotype ratings tended to change in the

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direction of earlier self-ratings. Both effects tended to increase with age (rAge, â(Inf.) = .04, ns, rAge, â(Ext.) = .10, p < .05); accommodative flexibility (FGA) seemed to dampen infusion as well as externalization effects (rFGA, â(Inf.) = -.07, p < .05 [one-tailed], rFGA, â(Ext.) = -.08, p < .05). Supplementary moderated regression analyses revealed that the age-related increase of infusion effects was boosted by low FGA, whereas for participants scoring high on FGA, infusion effects tended to decrease with age (â = -1.21, t[564] = -2.29, p < .05). This result converged with the pattern that emerged in the analysis of aggregated ratings above (see Figure 3; high and low values on FGA represent the 10th and 90th percentile of the sample distribution). Effects of initial self-evaluations on subsequent change in the individually held age stereotypes, however, were not moderated by FGA and age, â = -.42, *t* < 1.

Figure 3

Effects of Self-Evaluations and Age Stereotypes on Subjective Well-Being

The final set of analyses investigated effects of self-evaluations and age stereotypes on subjective well-being using life-satisfaction and depression as outcome measures. Hierarchical regressions were performed with self and stereotype ratings being entered in the first step. To test interaction effects, the product term of the two ratings was entered in the second step. Results are reported in Table 3.

Table 3

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Life satisfaction (LSI) was found to depend on the positivity of self-ratings as well as on the positivity of stereotype ratings. With signs reversed, a similar pattern emerged in the prediction of depression (GDS). In general, effects were much stronger for self-evaluations than for the individually held age stereotypes. Of particular interest in the present context are the interaction effects of self-evaluations and age stereotypes which emerged in these analyses. The direction of these effects indicates that the impact of self-evaluations on subjective life quality is boosted by a negative stereotype and dampened when the stereotype is more positive (Figure 4 illustrates the moderation effects; high and low values on selfevaluations and evaluations of the typical old person represent the 10th and 90th percentile of the respective sample distributions). These observations support the infusion hypothesis, but discredit the comparison hypothesis that would predict the opposite pattern.

Figure 4

General Discussion

The present study evaluated rival assumptions about the relation between age stereotypes, self-views, and well-being. We have distinguished three basic assumptions concerning this relationship: A “comparison” hypothesis, according to which a negative age stereotype serves as a reference standard for self-enhancing comparisons, an “infusion” hypothesis assuming that age stereotypes taint the self-views of elderly people, and an “externalization” hypothesis positing that individually held age stereotypes are a projection of

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the elderly person‘s self-view or personal experiences. The three hypotheses lead to different predictions about relationships and sequential dependencies between self-ratings and stereotype ratings, as well as about moderating effects of age stereotypes on the relation between self-evaluations and well-being. These implications were evaluated with data from a larger cross-sequential study assessing self and stereotype ratings in a sample of elderly participants over a longitudinal interval of 8 years. Our findings support the following conclusions: 1. The pattern of effects that emerged from correlational analyses supports the assumption that age stereotypes taint self-evaluations in line with the infusion hypothesis. This conclusion is further strengthened by the observation that stereotype ratings predict subsequent 8-year longitudinal change in self-ratings, and that this change tends to take the same direction as the person‘s earlier view of the typical old person. These findings replicate and extend the results of previous studies investigating the relation between individual age stereotypes and self-perceived problems (O‘Gorman, 1980). The fact that infusion effects of age stereotypes on later self-evaluations were also observed when longitudinal change in selfevaluations was used as the dependent variable renders competing explanations of the positive association between self-views and age stereotypes in terms of an externalization of personal problems or experiences implausible. 2. Age stereotypes correlate negatively with measures of subjective life quality, and negative age stereotypes boost rather than buffer the impact of negative self-evaluations on low personal well-being. This result does not conform to the assumption that negative stereotypes serve as a reference standard for self-enhancing downward comparisons, and it contradicts the assumption that negative stereotypes have a general and pervasive positive

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effect on the well-being of elderly people. According to the infusion hypothesis, negative views of the typical old person may generate expectations about personal developmental prospects that accentuate the negative impact of perceived problems and losses. This would explain the observed amplifying effects. 3. In general, construals of the typical old person seem to affect self-evaluations and subjective well-being in ways that conform with the assumption of an assimilation effect. Holding a negative age stereotype by no means guarantees that it will be used as a reference value against which old people will compare themselves. Instead, the contents of individually held age stereotypes tend to contaminate the self-concept of older persons and taint their interpretation of their current and future situation. Our findings indicate that negative views on age and aging render people more vulnerable to dissatisfaction and depression in later life, as already proposed by cognitive theories of aging (Kuypers & Bengtson, 1973; Rodin & Langer, 1980; Thomae, 1970). Nonetheless, although the present findings point to a dominance of infusion effects of age stereotypes in old age, this should not be read as implying that all elderly people are equally vulnerable to such effects, or that negative age stereotypes may not serve for self-enhancing downward comparisons in a particular case. However, the present findings suggest that such self-enhancing effects do not compensate or outweigh negative infusion or assimilation effects in general. Parenthetically, this also sheds an interesting light on the interpretation of the results of previous studies that investigated comparisons with age stereotypes. Many of these studies showed that older persons differ from their stereotyped views of older people in general and also report a positive correlation of the frequency and/or intensity of these downward comparisons with indicators of subjective well-being and psychological adaptation (e.g., Heidrich & Ryff, 1993a,b;

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Rickabaugh & Tomlinson-Keasey, 1997; Robinson-Whelen & Kiecolt-Glaser, 1997). But in all these studies, comparisons of self-views with the age stereotype were either prompted by the specific questions participants had to answer (Heidrich & Ryff, 1993a,b; RobinsonWhelen & Kiecolt-Glaser, 1997), or only those statements were analyzed in which explicit comparisons of the self with a negative age stereotype were made (Rickabaugh & TomlinsonKeasey, 1997). Contrast effects are a logical implication of comparing with a given reference value (Schwarz & Bless, 1992). Therefore, assimilation effects are excluded by an assessment format that forces participants to compare themselves with the typical old person. An unbiased assessment of the effects of age stereotypes on self-appraisals obviously requires a methodological approach that does not procedurally predetermine particular effects while systematically excluding others. 4. The externalization hypothesis was proposed as a third hypothesis accounting for influences between self-views and individually held age stereotypes. The results of the present study lend some support to this hypothesis: Time-lagged effects indicate a slight tendency for stereotype ratings to become more similar to initial self-ratings over time. However, an inspection of the cross-sequential pattern of age-related change in selfevaluations and evaluations of the typical old person reveals that this effect seems to reflect a revision of negative age stereotypes in the light of positive personal experiences (Brubaker & Powers, 1979; Whitbourne, 1985) rather than a projection of personal problems into a generalized image of older people (as suggested by the “social downgrading” hypothesis; Heckhausen & Brim, 1997): Individual construals of the typical old person become more favorable over the 8-year longitudinal time interval of the investigation (cf. Hummert, Garstka, Shaner, & Strahm, 1995; Rothermund et al., 1995; Wentura et al., 1997). This

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argues against a projection of personal deficits onto the image of the typical old person because—at least for the older cohorts—self-evaluations deteriorate during the same time interval. 5. While highlighting potentially insidious functions of negative age stereotypes, our results do not support sweeping conclusions that disregard differential factors. Apparently, such conclusions have to be qualified with regard to age differences and differences in coping style: Assimilation or infusion effects seem to become more influential with advancing age. At the same time, however, a readiness to disengage from blocked goals and to adjust personal goals to action resources (as measured by the FGA scale) tends to dampen this agegraded effect. People scoring high on this dispositional variable also seem more capable of protecting their selves from negative stereotypes, and more prone to construing a positive contrast between self and stereotype. This converges with previous studies in which accommodative flexibility has been found to mitigate the negative emotional impact of aversive life events, perceived developmental losses, or the fading of residual life-time (e.g., Brandtstädter & Renner, 1990; Rothermund & Brandtstädter, 1998; Schmitz, Rothermund, & Brandtstädter, 1999). People scoring high on FGA seem more able to dissociate problems and losses in particular domains from global appraisals of themselves and their lives, and thus are less likely to experience a “crystallization of discontent” (Baumeister, 1994) vis-à-vis major life change. In the context of the present findings, this disposition seems to shield self-views from ego-deflating influences of a negative age stereotype. A clear separation between selfviews and construals of a generalized other also seems to be a prerequisite for using age stereotypes as a reference point for self-enhancing comparisons.

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Negative Stereotype Infusion

24 Footnotes

1

Positive effects of negative age stereotypes on the evaluation of older persons were

reported in a number of previous studies: Specific personality descriptions of persons who were designated as old were appraised more positively than identical descriptions referring to young persons (Bell & Stanfield, 1973; Braithwaite, 1986; Fliege, 1997; Sherman, Gold, & Sherman, 1978). Reference to old age automatically seems to activate a negative age stereotype that provides a reference standard against which the target object is evaluated (cf. Green, 1984). But this effect refers to the process of evaluating descriptions of others. The comparison hypothesis, however, predicts a positive effect of negative age stereotypes on the self-assessments of the elderly.

2

This study is part of a larger project on “Adaptive Resources of the Aging Self” that

is supported by research grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) to JB.

3

A correlation of averaged ratings, as computed in the previous analysis, reflects

similarities in global positivity for the stereotype and the self. Profile correlations, on the other hand, reflect similarities in the pattern of deviations from the average ratings for the stereotype and the self across attributes. Both aspects are statistically independent.

Negative Stereotype Infusion

25 Author Note

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Klaus Rothermund, University of Trier, Department of Psychology, D-54286 Trier, Germany. Electronic mail should be sent to [email protected].

Negative Stereotype Infusion

26

Table 1. Comparison, Infusion, and Externalization: Contrasting Implicationsa Comparison

Infusion

Externalization

(1) Association between individually held age stereotypes and self-evaluations

Negative

Positive

Positive

(2) Moderating effect of a negative age stereotype on relation between selfevaluations and subjective well-being

Buffering

a

Schematic overview. See text for further explanation.

Amplification (No Prediction)

27

Negative Stereotype Infusion Table 2. Descriptive Statistics and Internal Consistencies for Self-Ratings, Stereotype Ratings, and Reference Measures 1991

1999

n items

M

SD

á

M

SD

á

Self-evaluation

32

7.90

1.08

.92

7.94

1.36

.94

“Typical old person”

32

5.59

1.22

.93

5.85

1.42

.95

Life satisfaction (LSI)

10

19.59

5.21

.82

19.06

5.11

.82

Depression (GDS)

15

12.70

6.81

.87

13.00

6.56

.88

Accommodative Flexibility (FGA)

15

55.41

7.91

.79

55.26

7.62

.80

Negative Stereotype Infusion

28

Table 3. Life-Satisfaction and Depression as Predicted by Self-Ratings and Stereotype Ratings: Hierarchical Regression Analyses Step 1 (Main effects) Self Life satisfaction Depression a

“Typical old”

Step 2 (Interaction effect) Self × “Typical old”

.56***

.14***

-.77**

-.65***

-.11***

.88**

Variables were aggregated across measurement occasions.

Negative Stereotype Infusion

29 Figure Captions

Figure 1. Cross-sequential patterns of self-ratings and stereotype ratings (higher ratings reflect more positive evaluations).

Figure 2. Age-related change in similarity between stereotype ratings and self-ratings: Moderating effects of Flexible Goal Adjustment (FGA).

Figure 3. Age-related change in similarity between stereotype ratings and subsequent change in self-ratings: Moderating effects of Flexible Goal Adjustment (FGA).

Figure 4. Conditional regressions of life satisfaction (LSI) and depression (GDS) on selfappraisals: Moderating effects of stereotype ratings.

Negative Stereotype Infusion

30

Fig. 1

8.5

8.0

7.5

1991 1999 1991 - 1999

54-57

58-61

62-65

66-69 70-73 Age Groups

74-77

78-81

82-85

6.5

6.0

5.5

1991 1999 1991 - 1999 54-57

58-61

62-65

66-69 70-73 Age Groups

74-77

78-81

82-85

Negative Stereotype Infusion

31

Negative Stereotype Infusion

32

Fig. 4

25

20

“Typical old person” 15

S +

S

+

Self 25

“Typical old person”

20

S + 15

10

S

+

Self