Definition
Age stereotypes represent people’s beliefs about the characteristics of a group of individuals based on their age. Age stereotypes exist about different age groups (e.g., adolescents, middle-aged people), but the focus of this entry is on age stereotypes about older adults.
Overview
Stereotypes about older adults are complex, consisting of both positive and negative themes. The multifaceted nature of age stereotypes exists both for descriptions of older people and for prescriptions regarding how they should behave. This entry reviews research on these two forms of age stereotypes, as well as the implications of those stereotypes for older adults’ functioning and well-being in daily life.
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Chasteen, A.L., Bergstrom, V.N.Z., Schiralli, J.E., Le Forestier, J.M. (2019). Age Stereotypes. In: Gu, D., Dupre, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_584-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_584-1
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