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Updated: Jun 24, 2026
06:58
Highlighting and Reducing the Impact of Negative Aging Stereotypes During Older Adults' Cognitive Testing
Published on: January 24, 2020
The stereotype-matching effect: greater influence on functioning when age stereotypes correspond to outcomes
Becca R Levy1, Erica Leifheit-Limson
1Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8034, USA. becca.levy@yale.edu
Psychology and Aging
|March 18, 2009
Summary
Older adults are influenced by age stereotypes. When stereotype content matches the outcome domain, positive or negative stereotypes significantly impact cognitive and physical performance, creating self-fulfilling prophecies.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Gerontology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Older adults encounter conflicting positive and negative age stereotypes.
- The impact of stereotype valence on performance, particularly when matched to the outcome domain, remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether the valence of age stereotypes (positive vs. negative) has a stronger influence on cognitive and physical performance when the stereotype content aligns with the outcome domain.
Main Methods:
- Randomly assigned older individuals into four groups: positive-cognitive, negative-cognitive, positive-physical, or negative-physical subliminal-age-stereotype conditions.
- Assessed cognitive and physical performance outcomes for each group.
Main Results:
- A significant interaction was found: the valence of age stereotypes had a greater impact on cognitive and physical performance when the stereotype content corresponded to the outcome domain.
- Positive stereotypes enhanced performance, while negative stereotypes impaired it, but only when matched to the respective domain.
Conclusions:
- Age stereotype valence significantly influences older adults' cognitive and physical performance, especially when the stereotype content aligns with the outcome domain.
- Matched stereotypes can create expectations that function as self-fulfilling prophecies, impacting real-world functioning in older age.
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