Social Ageing

Question 1

What is ageism?

Answer 1

The stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) towards others or oneself based on age

Question 2

What are the two main methodological approaches to studying aging

Answer 2

Longitudinal designs and Cross-Sectional designs

Question 3

What is a Longitudinal design

Answer 3

Studying the same group of participants over a long period of time

Question 4

What are the advantages of a longitudinal design?

Answer 4

It can directly estimate within-person change and reduces variability

Question 5

What are the disadvantages to a longitudinal design

Answer 5

• Very difficult, time consuming and expensive
• Typically limited to short time periods (e.g. 10 years)
• Attrition (wearing down)
• Test-retest effects (the increase in test scores when a
  test is taken more than once

Question 6

What is a cross-sectional design

Answer 6

• Testing a group of participants from one age group and a completely different group of participants from another age-group

Question 7

What is the main advantage to a cross-sectional design

Answer 7

Much quicker and easier than longitudinal designs

Question 8

What is the main disadvantage to a cross sectional design

Answer 8

Confounding factors e.g. demographic differences, cohort effects

Question 9

How did Fiske et al 2002 stereotype content model for ageing work?

Answer 9

• Two primary dimensions that groups are evaluated on: warmth and competence
• These two dimensions can be used to categorise stereotypes towards various groups
• Participants rated stereotypes of 17 groups on competence and warmth traits

Question 10

What did Fiske et al 2002 find in his stereotype content model for ageing

Answer 10

Older adults were rated as high in warmth, low in competence

Question 11

What did Cuddy et al (2005) study consist of

Answer 11

• Young adults read a vignette about a fictional 71 year old
• Additional sentence provided an experimental manipulation of competence

Question 12

How did participants in Cuddy’s 2005 study react?

Answer 12

Participants rated the older person as warmer in the incompetent condition that the competent condition

Question 13

What does the data from Cuddy’s 2005 study indicate?

Answer 13

Indicates that the two dimensions of the paternalistic stereotype (high warmth, low competence) are directly related to each other

Question 14

What did Fernandez-Ballesteros (2020) find in his study

Answer 14

When asked how participants deemed people over 70, between friendly and competent, almost all people showed higher levels of friendly over competence

Question 15

What did Lockenhoff (2009) find in his study

Answer 15

• College students across 26 countries across 6
  continents associated ageing with
  
  • Declines in attractiveness, ability to perform daily
    tasks and learn new things
  • Increases in knowledge, wisdom and respect
  • Stability in family authority and life satisfaction

Question 16

What are the three main theories explaining why ageism develops?

Answer 16

• Social Identity Theory
• Terror Management Theory
• The cognitive architecture of self-directed ageism

Question 17

What are the two main studies for Social Identity Theory

Answer 17

• Tajfel (1981)
• Bodner (2009)