Perceiving middle-aged adults: effects of stereotype-congruent and incongruent information

Normative beliefs about mid-life involve stereotypic expectations about age-appropriate development and behavior. This study examined the effects of violations of the stereotypic clock on interpersonal judgments. Each subject read descriptions of persons who, given their position in life, appeared to be 30, 45, or 60 years old. In the experimental condition but not in the control condition, stereotypic expectations about mid-life were activated by explicitly stating that the person was 45 years old. As predicted, subjects judged stereotype-incongruent persons against the background of stereotypic age-related expectations. Subjects evaluated unusually advanced persons (women in particular) more positively, and unusually delayed persons more negatively than stereotype-congruent persons. Stereotype-incongruent persons were rated as less typical, elicited greater surprise, and afforded more extensive causal explanations than stereotype-congruent persons.