目的探讨老年大学学员主观幸福感及影响因素.方法采用自制调查表和纽芬兰主观幸福度量表(MUNSH)对老年大学卫生保健班学员进行调查.结果老年大学学员MUNSH总分为36.37分,说明其总体上心理健康状况良好.以多元逐步回归分析,提示影响主观幸福感主要因素依次为:家庭关系,自评身体健康状况,经济收入和对子女满意度.结论老年大学学员是一组主观幸福感较高,心理健康水平良好的老人群体.

当前,世界老龄化形势严峻,而我国更是全球老龄化速度最快和最严重的国家之一。如何更好应对人口老龄化、加快建设社会养老服务体系、发展养老服务产业,亟需一些能够反映国情的有针对性研究成果,包括针对老年人心理健康和心理服务的研究。文章以2012年和2014年江苏省所辖13个地级市的老年人心理健康的抽样调查数据为基础,同时参考国内外已有老年心理研究,从积极和消极两个方面分析了老年人心理健康状况和特征;从生理、社会和个体3个方面阐述了影响老年人心理健康的因素;基于江苏省老年心理健康实际工作,阐述了具有一定引领性且对其他省份具有借鉴作用的心理服务实践。

Steele和Aronson(1995)最早提出刻板印象威胁的概念,指出这种威胁使个体担心自己会验证所属群体的消极刻板印象。民族刻板印象威胁表现为个体行为表现下降并影响民族交往。民族刻板印象威胁效应的主要机制是工作记忆受损和不认同。通过提供内群体榜样和进行非评价性测试,可以有效地减轻刻板印象威胁效应。未来研究要准确界定种族、族群和民族的概念,考察民族刻板印象威胁与性别刻板印象威胁的区别,研究不同民族的刻板印象威胁效应。

The aging stereotype, which refers to the perception and the expectation pointing to old individuals, can significantly affect holder's physiological and cognition functions as well as behavior performances. Existing researches mainly focus on the potential mechanism, mediators and influence factors of aging stereotype. It is assumed that aging stereotype is formed through the process of internalization; Stereotype Threat Theory and Self-Stereotyping are the two main theories in explaining the aging stereotype effects. Inhibition ability, context situation as well as cultural differences are among the main factors influence the aging stereotype; Aging self-perception and stereotypic expectancy are the mediators of the aging stereotype. Future research should focus on the effect of different level of consciousness, context situation, individual characteristics on aging stereotypes and the effect of characteristics of aging stereotype on different age group. Potential mediators, intervention and cross-cultural study should also included.

It was a study of the effect of non-cognitive factors on cognitive aging. The purpose of the study was to research the effect of attitude towards aging on memory performance of the elderly, and trying to explore the mechanism of the attitude towards aging on memory performance. The entire study was divided into three phases and included six experiments. The questionnaire of attitude towards aging was compiled in phase 1. Then the validity and reliability of it was tested in the elderly. The self-esteem scale was also tested as above. These prepare the instruments for the study. It was a static study in phase 2. Through comparing the old groups in different environment, analyzing relationship between different non-cognitive factors and memory performance in the old subjects in identical environment, the paths of the effect of the attitude towards aging on memory performance was explored. It was a dynamic study in phase 3. By changing attitude towards aging of the elderly with direct thinking (positive, negative), the effect on memory performance was observed and the mechanism was explored. Main results: 1. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire towards aging were good. Its construct had two factors (positive, negative). Both reliability of retest and split test were over 0.90. 2. Direct thinking task was able to change the attitude towards aging effectively in old or young adults. The scores of the attitudes towards aging between positive and negative thinking subjects were different significantly. 3. The effect of attitude towards aging on memory performance was significant. The results in static or dynamic condition showed that the elderly with higher score of the questionnaire of attitude towards aging (more positive), their memory self-efficacy and memory performance were higher. In the opposite (negative), they were lower. 4. Mechanism of the effect of the attitude towards aging on memory performance: in static condition there were two paths i.e. direct path and through memory self-efficacy; in dynamic condition, besides the two paths, emotion change constituted another path. 5. Different non-cognitive factors have different effect on psychological function. The results of this study found that self-esteem has no significant correlation with memory performance, but correlates with depression; The factor of education has effect on many non-cognitive factors and memory performance.

刻板印象威胁是指由消极刻板印 象导致的一种社会心理困境,诱发群体成员的压力和害怕体验,进而损害群体成员的行为表现。研究选取65名城市农民工子女,采用工作记忆的数字n-back 范式,考察城市农民工子女的刻板印象威胁效应,结果如下:(1)在工作记忆的三个任务难度中,实验组被试的正确率显著低于控制组被试的正确率;随着难度的 增加,控制组和实验组被试的正确率都显著下降;(2)在工作记忆的三个任务难度中,实验组被试的猜测率显著高于控制组被试的猜测率。结果表明在激活城市农 民工子女的消极刻板印象后,产生了明显的刻板印象威胁效应。

目的:有研究发现负性刻板印象对被刻板对象会产生威胁效应,本研究探讨反数学-性别刻板印象信息能否给女 生带来积极效应.方法:选取150名高二理科女生,完全随机分成三组,分别在不同的数学-性别刻板印象情境下接受数学相关测验.第一组为语言减弱组,测验 时有意通过语言声称方式提供反数学-性别刻板印象信息;第二组为榜样减弱组,测验时有两位女性数学非常棒的楷模在场;第三组为控制组,测验情境中不有意提 供任何数学性别信息.结果:语言减弱组的工作记忆容量显著低于控制组(P＜0.01),榜样减弱组的工作记忆容量和数学测验成绩都显著高于控制组(P值均 小于0.05).结论:语言声称方式直接提供反数学-性别刻板印象信息不能对女生产生积极效应,相反还会给女生带来威胁效应;榜样方式提供反数学-性别刻 板印象信息对女生有明显的积极效应.

针对某一性别群体存在的消极刻板印象会使该群体成员产生一种威胁感,这种威胁感可能会对个体认知过程产生深刻的影响。本研究以60名大班幼儿为被试,采用内隐性别刻板印象威胁任务和比内任务,考察性别刻板印象威胁对幼儿任务难度选择及表现的影响。结果发现:(1)实施内隐性别刻板印象威胁的实验组幼儿在选择的任务难度上显著低于控制组;(2)在认知任务表现上,实验组幼儿的语言类任务得分显著低于控制组。从任务选择难度降低这一结果来看,性别刻板印象威胁对幼儿的自我效能感产生了负面影响,继而进一步影响了其认知任务的表现。

Group identity has a direct positive effect on individuals’ willingness of participating collective action, and also it moderates the relationships of group efficiency and group-based emotions to action tendencies. Many special types of group identity such as politicized identity, common identity and dual identity could affect collective action in wide range. From the perspective of dynamic researches, undertaking collective action can strengthen protestors’ identification for ingroup. And strong group identity will exert a sustained impact on protestors’ behaviors. Further research should explore the complex work mechanism of group identity on the basis of the differences of collective action in contexts, behavior patterns and development stages.

正研究〔1~3〕表明刻板印象威胁确实稳定地存在于某些群体中,并且对其相关领域的任务表现产生了影响,如黑人的智力水平测验成绩、女性的驾车技能及老年人的各种认知能力等。与老年人相关的消极刻板特征如衰老、病弱、残障、孤独无助等,广泛存在于各种文化背景中〔4〕,这些消极刻板特征可以通过刻板印象威胁影响老年人在相关领域中的任务表现。老年相关的消极刻板印象对老年人的认知能力、个性倾向、情绪情感及运动能力等都产生了不同程度的消极影响。认知能力方

目的利用语义联想原理,以反应时为指标,考察年轻人与不同阶段的老年人的内隐老化刻板印象的差异及其与词语记忆等认知功能老化的关系。方法采用计算机测验程序对81名60~85岁老年人和36名年轻人的内隐老化刻板印象和词语记忆进行了测量。结果①在控制教育年限的情况下,年龄越大,内隐老化刻板印象程度越高(r=0.712);②年轻人的内隐老化刻板印象显著低于老年人。60岁组和65岁组显著低于70岁组和75岁组。70岁是内隐老化刻板印象发展的一个转折点。男性被试的内隐老化刻板印象低于女性;③内隐老化刻板印象程度越高,词语记忆能力也越差,两者之间的相关系数为-0.455。结论内隐老化刻板存在年龄差异,内隐老化刻板印象与老年人的认知老化有着密切的关系。

采用内隐联想测验（IAT）和相应的外显测量，考察了大学生被试对年轻人和老年人的内隐和外显年龄刻板印象。结果表明：大学生被试在身体特征、个人表达和认知能力等3个方面对老年人都普遍存在明显消极的内隐态度；而在外显测量中，对年轻人和老年人的态度不存在显著差异；内隐和外显的年龄刻板印象测量之间相关不显著，可以用不同的记忆系统理论和联结-命题评价（APE）模型来解释内隐和外显测量不一致现象；不同性别的大学生被试在外显态度测量和内隐联想测验中测得的年龄刻板印象均不存在显著差异。

Healthcare stereotype threat is the threat of being personally reduced to group stereotypes that commonly operate within the healthcare domain, including stereotypes regarding unhealthy lifestyles and inferior intelligence. The objective of this study was to assess the extent to which people fear being judged in healthcare contexts on several characteristics, including race/ethnicity and age, and to test predictions that experience of such threats would be connected with poorer health and negative perceptions of health care. Data were collected as part of the 2012 Health and Retirement Study (HRS). A module on healthcare stereotype threat, designed by the research team, was administered to a random subset (n=2,048 of the total 20,555) of HRS participants. The final sample for the present healthcare stereotype threat experiment consists of 1,479 individuals. Logistic regression was used to test whether healthcare stereotype threat was associated with self-rated health, reported hypertension, and depressive symptoms, as well as with healthcare-related outcomes, including physician distrust, dissatisfaction with health care, and preventative care use. Seventeen percent of respondents reported healthcare stereotype threat with respect to one or more aspects of their identities. As predicted, healthcare stereotype threat was associated with higher physician distrust and dissatisfaction with health care, poorer mental and physical health (i.e., self-rated health, hypertension, and depressive symptoms), and lower odds of receiving the influenza vaccine. The first of its kind, this study demonstrates that people can experience healthcare stereotype threat on the basis of various stigmatized aspects of social identity, and that these experiences can be linked with larger health and healthcare-related outcomes, thereby contributing to disparities among minority groups.

Across the world, people are required, or want, to work until an increasingly old age. But how might prospective employers view job applicants who have skills and qualities that they associate with older adults? This article draws on social role theory, age stereotypes and research on hiring biases, and reports three studies using age‐diverse North American participants. These studies reveal that: (1) positive older age stereotype characteristics are viewed less favorably as criteria for job hire, (2) even when the job role is low‐status, a younger stereotype profile tends to be preferred, and (3) an older stereotype profile is only considered hirable when the role is explicitly cast as subordinate to that of a candidate with a younger age profile. Implications for age‐positive selection procedures and ways to reduce the impact of implicit age biases are discussed.

The authors examined whether the memory performance of young, middle-aged, and older adults would be influenced by stereotype versus counterstereotype information about age differences on a memory task. One hundred forty-nine adults from a probability sample were randomly assigned to a control group or to age-stereotype conditions. As predicted, counterstereotype information was related to higher recall compared to stereotype and control groups. This was true across all age groups, but only for those with more education. Both stereotype and counterstereotype information were related to lower recall compared to the control group across age groups for those with lower education. Results suggest those with more education are more resilient when faced with negative age stereotypes about memory and respond positively to counterstereotype information. In contrast, those with less education show greater susceptibility to the detrimental effects of age stereotypes and respond negatively to both stereotype and counterstereotype information about memory aging.

In many regions around the world students with certain immigrant backgrounds underachieve in educational settings. This paper provides a review and meta-analysis on one potential source of the immigrant achievement gap: stereotype threat, a situational predicament that may prevent students to perform up to their full abilities. A meta-analysis of 19 experiments suggests an overall mean effect size of 0.63 (random effects model) in support of stereotype threat theory. The results are complemented by moderator analyses with regard to circulation (published or unpublished research), cultural context (US versus Europe), age of immigrants, type of stereotype threat manipulation, dependent measures, and means for identification of immigrant status; evidence on the role of ethnic identity strength is reviewed. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Abstract Background and Objectives: Prior research has shown that exposure to negative age-based stereotype threat (ST) can undermine older adults’ memory performance. The objective of the current meta-analysis was to examine the reliability and magnitude of ST effects on older adults’ episodic and working memory performance—two forms of memory that typically show the greatest age-related declines. In addition, we examined potential moderators of age-based ST including type of ST manipulation, type and timing of memory task, participant age and education level. Research Design and Method: A total of 23 samples for episodic memory and 15 samples for working memory were derived from 19 published and 4 unpublished articles and analyzed in two separate meta-analyses. Results: Analyses revealed a reliable effect of ST on both older adults’ episodic (d = 0.373) and working memory performance (d = 0.253). Interestingly, the age-based ST effect was only significant when blatant ST manipulations were used with episodic memory tasks or when subtle ST manipulations were used with working memory tasks. Moreover, within episodic memory, the ST effect only reached significance for recall but not cued-recall or recognition performance, and for immediate but not delayed tests of memory. Neither age nor level of education moderated the association between ST and older adults’ memory performance. Discussion and Implications: These results highlight the vulnerability of both older adults’ episodic and working memory performance to age-based ST. When measuring older adults’ memory performance in a research context, we must therefore be wary of exposing participants to common stereotypes about aging and memory.

Background: Although stereotype threat is a well-documented phenomenon, previous studies examining it in older adults have almost exclusively focused on objective cognitive outcomes. Considerably less attention has been paid to the impact of stereotype threat on older adults' subjective assessments of their own abilities or to the impact of stereotype threat in noncognitive domains. Objective: Older adults are stereotyped as having experienced not only cognitive declines, but physical declines as well. The current study tested the prediction that stereotype threat can negatively influence older adults' subjective hearing abilities. Methods: To test this, 115 adults (mean age 50.03 years, range 41-67) read either a positive or negative description about how aging affects hearing. All participants then answered a questionnaire in which they assessed their own hearing abilities. Results: The impact of stereotype threat on self-reported hearing was moderated by chronological age. Participants in their 40s and early 50s were unaffected by the stereotype threat manipulation. In contrast, participants in their late 50s and 60s rated their hearing as being subjectively worse when under stereotype threat. Conclusion: The current study provides a clear demonstration that stereotype threat negatively impacts older adults' subjective assessments of their own abilities. It is also the first study to demonstrate an effect of stereotype threat within the domain of hearing. These results have important implications for researchers investigating age-related hearing decline. Stereotype threat can lead to overestimation of the prevalence of age-related hearing decline. It can also serve as a confounding variable when examining the psychosocial correlates of hearing loss. Because of this, researchers studying age-related hearing loss should aim to provide a stereotype threat-free testing environment and also include assessments of stereotype threat within their studies. u00a9 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel

Negative stereotypes about aging can impair older adults' memory via stereotype threat; however, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are unclear. In two experiments, we tested competing predictions derived from two theoretical accounts of stereotype threat: executive-control interference and regulatory fit. Older adults completed a working memory test either under stereotype threat about age-related memory declines or not under such threat. Monetary incentives were manipulated such that recall led to gains or forgetting led to losses. The executive-control-interference account predicts that stereotype threat decreases the availability of executive-control resources and hence should impair working memory performance. The regulatory-fit account predicts that threat induces a prevention focus, which should impair performance when gains are emphasized but improve performance when losses are emphasized. Results were consistent only with the regulatory-fit account. Although stereotype threat significantly impaired older adults' working memory performance when remembering led to gains, it significantly improved performance when forgetting led to losses.

Stereotype threat often incurs the cost of reducing the amount of information that older adults accurately recall. In the current research, we tested whether stereotype threat can also benefit memory. According to the regulatory focus account of stereotype threat, threat induces a prevention focus in which people become concerned with avoiding errors of commission and are sensitive to the presence or absence of losses within their environment. Because of this, we predicted that stereotype threat might reduce older adults' memory errors. Results were consistent with this prediction. Older adults under stereotype threat had lower intrusion rates during free-recall tests (Experiments 1 and 2). They also reduced their false alarms and adopted more conservative response criteria during a recognition test (Experiment 2). Thus, stereotype threat can decrease older adults' false memories, albeit at the cost of fewer veridical memories, as well.

Abstract"Stereotype threat" is often thought of as a singular construct, with moderators and mechanisms that are stable across groups and domains. However, this is not always true. To illustrate this, the current review focuses on the stereotype threat that older adults face about their cognitive abilities. Using Shapiro and Neuberg's (2007) Multi-Threat Framework, I first provide evidence that this is a self-concept threat, and not a group-reputation threat. Because this differs from the form(s) of threat experienced by other groups (e.g., the threat that minority students face about their intellectual abilities), the moderators of threat observed in other groups (i.e., group identification) do not always generalize to age-based stereotype threat about cognitive decline. Looking beyond the form(s) of threat elicited, this review also provides evidence that the mechanisms underlying stereotype threat effects may vary across the lifespan. Due to age-related improvements in emotion regulation abilities, stereotype threat does not seem to reduce older adults' executive control resources. Overall, this review highlights the need to approach the concept of stereotype threat with more granularity. This will allow us to design more effective stereotype threat interventions. It will also shed light on why certain effects "fail to replicate" across domains or groups.

The purpose of the present research was to explore the role of stereotype threat as a mediator of older people's memory performance under different instructional sets. In three studies, younger and older participants completed a memory test that was either framed as a memorization or as an impression formation task. Across these studies, memory performance was greater for younger than for older adults and was higher in the impression formation than memorization condition, but was not different for older adults in the two instruction conditions. These results also showed that age differences in memory performance were mediated by participants' feelings of stereotype threat, such that age was positively related to stereotype threat and stereotype threat was negatively related to memory performance. These data demonstrate that concerns about being negatively stereotyped influence age differences in memory performance, and that the effects of these feelings on performance are not easily reduced by reframing the task instructions.

Adults 24-86 years of age read positive or negative information about aging and memory prior to a memory test. The impact of this information on recall performance varied with age. Performance in the youngest and oldest participants was minimally affected by stereotype activation. Adults in their 60s exhibited weak effects consistent with the operation of stereotype threat, whereas middle-age adults exhibited a contrast effect in memory performance, suggestive of stereotype lift. Beliefs about aging and memory were also affected by stereotypic information, and older adults' changed beliefs were more important in predicting performance than was exposure to stereotype-based information alone.

Previous research suggests that seniors' short-term performance is affected by stereotype threat efined as a situation in which an individual is at risk of confirming a negative characterization about one's group. The current study attempted to replicate and extend these findings to areas of cognitive and physical functioning considered important to seniors' quality of life and known to decline with age. In total, 99 seniors were tested on six dependent measures: recall performance, reaction time, grip strength, flexibility, walking speed, and self-concept. While seniors were affected by the stereotype intervention, they suffered no performance decrements on the main dependent measures. This raises the intriguing possibility that a certain segment of seniors may be immune to popular stereotypes of aging.

Abstract Stereotype threat is defined as a situational threat that diminishes performance, originating from a negative stereotype about one's own social group. In 3 studies, we seek to determine whether there are indeed negative stereotypes of students who have chosen a career in teaching, and whether the performance of these students is affected by stereotype threat. Responses to open-ended questions (Study 1, N = 82) and comparisons in closed-ended response format (Study 2, N = 120) showed that preservice teachers are perceived as having a low level of competence and a high level of warmth, in keeping with the paternalistic stereotype. We conclude that a stereotype does indeed exist that attributes lower competence to prospective teachers. In Study 3 (N = 262), a group of preservice teachers was subjected to stereotype threat. In keeping with the stereotype threat model, that group performed worse on a cognitive test than the group of similar students who were not under stereotype threat; the performance of students in the field psychology did not differ in response to the threat condition. This study is the 1st to show the effects of stereotype threat on students preparing for a teaching career.

Negative comments regarding the competency of older drivers are frequently heard in the general population. While negative stereotypes of older drivers seem to be present, their existence has yet to be empirically validated. We thus investigated the stereotypes pertaining to older drivers in two experiments. In both experiments young adults viewed 12 simulated clips of three categories of driving behaviors (i.e., younger adults’ unsafe behaviors, older drivers’ unsafe behaviors and appropriate-safe driving behaviors) without knowing the driver's age. They were asked to rate how representative the behaviors were of a typical younger, middle-aged, or older driver. Experiment 1 showed that older drivers’ unsafe behaviors were rated as significantly more representative of the typical older driver, while young adults’ unsafe behaviors were perceived as significantly more representative of the typical younger driver. In Experiment 2, younger participants viewed the same clips but were only asked to indicate whether the observed behavior was representative or not of the typical older driver. The main findings were replicated. When asked to describe the main features of the typical older drivers, participants qualified them as being overly cautious, uncomfortable behind the wheel, and unsafe and dangerous. The potential implications on driving performance of older drivers and on driving cessation and are discussed.

Older drivers are perceived as being dangerous and overly cautious by other drivers. We tested the hypothesis that this negative stereotype has a direct influence on the performance of older drivers. Based on the Stereotype Threat literature, we predicted that older driving performance would be altered after exposure to a Stereotype Threat. Sixty-one older drivers aged 65 and above completed a simulated driving assessment course. Prior to testing, half of the participants were told that the objective of the study was to investigate why older adults aged 65 and above were more implicated in on-road accidents (Stereotype Threat condition) and half were showed a neutral statement. Results confirmed that exposure to the threat significantly altered driving performance. Older adults in the Stereotype Threat condition made more driving mistakes than those in the control group. Interestingly, under a Stereotype Threat condition, older adults tended to commit more speeding infractions. We also observed that domain identification (whether driving is deemed important or not) moderated the impact of the threat. Taken together, these results support recent older drivers performance models suggesting that the interaction between individual and social factors need to be considered when examining older drivers performance.

Abstract Older adults (OAs) report less overall mind-wandering than younger adults (YAs) but more task-related interference (TRI; mind-wandering about the task). The current study examined TRI while manipulating older adults' performance-related concerns. We compared groups for which memory-related stereotype threat (ST) was activated or relieved to a control group. Participants completed an operation span task containing mind-wandering probes. ST-activated OAs reported more TRI than ST-relieved OAs and had worse performance on the operation span task. This study illustrates that environmental context triggers current concerns and determines, in part, the frequency and content of mind-wandering. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The present study asks how subliminal exposure to negative stereotypes about age-related memory deficits affects older adults’ memory performance. Whereas prior research has focused on the effect of “stereotype threat” on older adults’ memory for neutral material, the present study additionally examines the effect on memory for positive and negative words, as well as whether the subliminal “threat” has a larger impact on memory performance when it occurs prior to encoding or prior to retrieval (as compared to a control condition). Results revealed that older adults’ memory impairments were most pronounced when the threat was placed prior to retrieval as compared to when the threat was placed prior to encoding or no threat occurred. Moreover, the threat specifically increased false memory rates, particularly for neutral items compared to positive and negative ones. These results emphasize that stereotype threat effects vary depending upon the phase of memory it impacts.

As the workforce ages, and people retire later in life, organizations will need to develop strategies to engage their mature-age workers. We used a stereotype threat framework to investigate the impact of threat-inducing (young manager, young workgroup, manual occupation) and threat-inhibiting (high performance practices, mature-age practices) contextual cues on mature-age worker engagement. A total of 666 mature-age employees in Australia described their work experiences in three surveys administered over a three-year period. Results indicated that mature-age employees who experienced stereotype threat in the workplace reported lower engagement 11 12 months later. All of the contextual cues had an impact on stereotype threat and exerted indirect (mediated by stereotype threat) effects on engagement. However, the effects of manager age were moderated by organizational practices. Diversity conscious mature-age practices moderated the effect of manager age, so mature-age practices were particularly beneficial in counteracting negative cues associated with young managers. But diversity blind high performance practices moderated the effect of manager age, so high performance practices were especially helpful in generating engagement among mature-age workers with older managers. We recommend that organizations adopt both diversity blind and diversity conscious practices into their diversity management portfolios. The two types of practices are complementary and have additive effects on mature-age worker engagement.

Abstract Stereotypes can harm human performance, especially when activated in individuals with diminished working memory capacity (WMC). Performance implications for the stereotype of poor driving in older adults were investigated. Using a sample of older adults, WMC (the ability to maintain task goals and ignore distractions) and driving performance [brake reaction time (RT), following distance, and crashes] were assessed, the latter using a high-fidelity simulator. Elderly participants under stereotype threat with reduced WMC exhibited slower brake RTs and longer following distances compared with a control condition that was not threatened. This driving profile was characteristic of cognitive distraction. Stereotype threat has clear consequences for human performance in a common real-world task—driving—that is critical to public safety. Furthermore, these findings suggest caution in how the media and public policy communicate information about older adult driving.Copyright 08 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This study examined whether stereotypes of aging might contribute to decisions the elderly make about when to die. Old and young participants (N=64) were subliminally primed with either negative or positive stereotypes of old age and then responded to hypothetical medical situations involving potentially fatal illnesses. Consistent with our prediction, the aged participants primed with negative stereotypes tended to refuse life-prolonging interventions, whereas the old participants primed with positive age stereotypes tended to accept the interventions. This priming effect did not emerge among the young participants for whom the stereotypes were less relevant. The results suggest that societally-transmitted negative stereotypes of aging can weaken elderly people's will to live.

Abstract There is now evidence that negative age-related stereotypes about memory reduce older adults' memory performance, and inflate age differences in this domain. Here, we examine whether stereotype threat may also influence the basic feeling that one is more or less able to remember. Using the Remember/Know paradigm, we demonstrated that stereotype threat conducted older adults to a greater feeling of familiarity with events, while failing to retrieve any contextual detail. This finding indicates that stereotype threat alters older adults' subjective experience of memory, and strengthens our understanding of the mechanisms underlying stereotype threat effects.

Age is the only social category identifying subgroups that everyone may eventually join. Despite this and despite the well-known growth of the older population, age-based prejudice remains an understudied topic in social psychology. This article systematically reviews the literature on ageism, highlighting extant research on its consequences and theoretical perspectives on its causes. We then identify a crucial gap in the literature, potential intergenerational tensions, speculating how a growing-older population-and society's efforts to accommodate it-might stoke intergenerational fires, particularly among the younger generation. Presenting both sides of this incipient issue, we review relevant empirical work that introduces reasons for both optimism and pessimism concerning intergenerational relations within an aging society. We conclude by suggesting future avenues for ageism research, emphasizing the importance of understanding forthcoming intergenerational dynamics for the benefit of the field and broader society.

Prevailing beliefs suggest that Eastern cultures hold older adults in higher esteem than Western cultures do, due to stronger collectivist traditions of filial piety. However, in modern, industrialized societies, the strain presented by dramatic rises in population aging potentially threatens traditional cultural expectations. Addressing these competing hypotheses, a literature search located 37 eligible papers, comprising samples from 23 countries and 21,093 total participants, directly comparing Easterners and Westerners (as classified per U.N. conventions) in their attitudes toward aging and the aged. Contradicting conventional wisdom, a random-effects meta-analysis on these articles found such evaluations to be more negative in the East overall (standardized mean difference = -0.31). High heterogeneity in study comparisons suggested the presence of moderators; indeed, geographical region emerged as a significant moderating factor, with the strongest levels of senior derogation emerging in East Asia (compared with South and Southeast Asia) and non-Anglophone Europe (compared with North American and Anglophone Western regions). At the country level, multiple-moderator meta-regression analysis confirmed recent rises in population aging to significantly predict negative elder attitudes, controlling for industrialization per se over the same time period. Unexpectedly, these analyses also found that cultural individualism significantly predicted relative positivity-suggesting that, for generating elder respect within rapidly aging societies, collectivist traditions may backfire. The findings suggest the importance of demographic challenges in shaping modern attitudes toward elders-presenting considerations for future research in ageism, cross-cultural psychology, and even economic development, as societies across the globe accommodate unprecedented numbers of older citizens.

Stereotype threat is being at risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's group. Studies 1 and 2 varied the stereotype vulnerability of Black participants taking a difficult verbal test by varying whether or not their performance was ostensibly diagnostic of ability, and thus, whether or not they were at risk of fulfilling the racial stereotype about their intellectual ability. Reflecting the pressure of this vulnerability, Blacks underperformed in relation to Whites in the ability-diagnostic condition but not in the nondiagnostic condition (with Scholastic Aptitude Tests controlled). Study 3 validated that ability-diagnosticity cognitively activated the racial stereotype in these participants and motivated them not to conform to it, or to be judged by it. Study 4 showed that mere salience of the stereotype could impair Blacks' performance even when the test was not ability diagnostic. The role of stereotype vulnerability in the standardized test performance of ability-stigmatized groups is discussed.

Two experiments examined the effects of competition and cooperation contexts, as well as regulatory fit, on reducing the negative influence of stereotype threat. Experiment 1 demonstrated that in high stereotype threat conditions, participants in the cooperation context scored significantly higher on a math test than those in the competition context, while participants in low stereotype threat conditions did not differ in both contexts. Experiment 2 found that under stereotype threat, participants with induced prevention focus scored significantly higher on a math test in the cooperation context than those in the competition context or control group. At the same time, participants with induced promotion foci did not differ between the contexts. Thus, while the cooperation context may counteract the effect of stereotype threat, inducing a promotion focus may create a regulatory fit in the competition context that could also remove the effect of stereotype threat.

Abstract Exposing older adults to ageing stereotypes can reduce their memory for studied information--a phenomenon attributed to stereotype threat--but little is known about stereotype effects on false memory. Here, we assessed ageing stereotype effects on the Deese-Roediger-McDermott false memory illusion. Older adults studied lists of semantically associated words, and then read a passage about age-related memory decline (threat condition) or an age-neutral passage (control condition). They then took a surprise memory test with a warning to avoid false recognition of non-studied associates. Relative to the control condition, activating stereotype threat reduced the recognition of both studied and non-studied words, implicating a conservative criterion shift for associated test words. These results indicate that stereotype threat can reduce false memory, and they help to clarify mixed results from prior ageing research. Consistent with the regulatory focus hypothesis, threat motivates older adults to respond more conservatively when error-prevention is emphasised at retrieval.