Threat or boost? Social comparison affects older people's performance differently depending on task domain

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Gerontology

Background:

• Social comparison theory posits that individuals evaluate themselves by comparing to others.
• Stereotype threat can impair performance when individuals fear confirming negative stereotypes associated with their group.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the effects of social comparison with younger individuals on older adults' performance.
• To determine if social comparison can induce stereotype-based threat or performance boosts in older adults.

Main Methods:

• Study 1: Analyzed national data to identify performance domains where older adults are stereotypically disadvantaged or advantaged.
• Study 2: An experiment comparing performance under threatening, control, and enhancing social comparison conditions with younger individuals.

Main Results:

• Stereotype threat led to performance decrements in both negatively and positively stereotyped task domains, partially mediated by anxiety.
• Enhancing social comparison improved performance, but only on tasks where older adults are favorably stereotyped (e.g., crossword puzzles).

Conclusions:

• Social comparison can negatively impact older adults' performance through stereotype threat across various task domains.
• Positive social comparisons can enhance older adults' performance in specific, favorably stereotyped domains.
• Findings have implications for creating supportive environments to optimize older adults' potential.