Compassionate stereotyping of elderly patients by physicians: revising the social contact hypothesis

Departing from previous research on age stereotypes, this study examined degree of contact with elderly patients as a factor affecting age stereotyping by physicians. Included are measures of behavioral intentions as well as more traditional attitudinal measures. A total of 63 rheumatologists completed a brief questionnaire on which they rated a 53- or an 83-year-old target patient on a number of dimensions including psychological adjustment and need for support and information. Patients' age and physicians' degree of contact with elderly patients had few direct effects on physicians' ratings; their interaction, however, yielded a strong and consistent finding: The elderly patient was rated as less adjusted, autonomous, and instrumental and in greater need of support and information by high-contact physicians. These findings suggest that although negative age stereotypes are less prevalent than has previously been indicated, rheumatologists, particularly those who treat elderly patients, may draw on compassionate stereotypes in their care of elderly patients.