The status value of age

A controlled experiment and three replications examined the relationship between a person's age as a status characteristic and the value placed on that person as a potential group member. The experiments used computer-generated avatars to isolate the effects of age on the status value of partners being chosen for a work-related task. The design allowed us to compare the effect of age on status for members of three distinct groups: younger adults, middle-aged adults, and much older adults. Results showed that undergraduate participants rated middle-aged adult avatars higher on status indicators and chose to work with middle-aged adult avatars significantly more often than younger adult or much older adult avatars. The participants rated the much older avatar higher on most indicators of status than the younger adult avatar. They also chose to work with a much older adult more often than a person closer to their own age. This sample of undergraduate students placed the most value on the potential contributions of a middle-aged adult compared to a younger adult and also to a much older adult, suggesting that age as a status characteristic has more than two relevant categories, younger versus older. Further research is needed to determine whether the status value of age rises to a peak in middle age and declines thereafter.