Age and forgetfulness: young perceivers' impressions of young and older neighbors

Previous person perception research has indicated that people use an age-based double standard when judging targets who experience single instances of memory failure. The two experiments reported here extend the investigation by assessing whether perceivers evidence a similar bias in judging both the memory capability and personal traits of targets who vary in age and degree of forgetfulness. In the first experiment 179 young adults rated how likely they would be to choose a certain type of neighbor, described in a two-page vignette, to perform memory tasks. The neighbor's (i.e., target person's) age and degree of forgetfulness were manipulated. Participants gave higher choice ratings to nonforgetful than to forgetful targets. Also, they gave higher choice ratings to old over young targets. In the second experiment ninety young adults rated the degree to which they considered targets (described in the same vignettes used in the first experiment) to possess specific traits (e.g., responsible) that were both desirable and relevant to performing memory tasks. Nonforgetful targets received higher ratings than forgetful targets and older targets received higher ratings than young targets. The perception that older targets possess such traits to a greater degree than young targets may explain the initial finding that respondents were more likely to choose old over young targets to perform memory tasks.