Definition
Age-based stereotype threat is an identity threat that is experienced in situations when someone perceives that they will be evaluated negatively against age stereotypes associated with their age group. This can happen when a person’s age is a salient factor in the context or when age stereotypes provide expectations around performance or behavior. This threat has been shown to result in worse performance outcomes on negatively stereotyped tasks.
Overview
In many societies, older people are stereotyped as less competent than younger people‚ but more warm, friendly, and moral (Abrams et al. 2011). These age stereotypes, when negative, put people at risk of experiencing age-based stereotype threat (ABST). ABST is specific to contexts where age stereotypes present a threat to someone’s positive sense of self or identity (Tajfel and Turner 1979). ABST arises from anxiety about being judged or treated negatively due to one’s age, as well as a fear of confirming negative age...
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References
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Lamont, R.A., Swift, H.J., Abrams, D. (2019). Age-Based Stereotype Threat. In: Gu, D., Dupre, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_585-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_585-1
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