This experiment tests the communicative ecology model of successful aging (CEMSA) to determine how viewing positive aging TikTok videos impacts aging outcomes for young (n = 306), middle-aged (n = 225), and older (n = 233) women. We also extend the CEMSA to include ageism and positive attitudes toward older adults. Watching positive aging TikTok videos had an indirect effect on aging efficacy through positive aging affect for all age groups. There was also a positive indirect effect on successful aging through positive affect and aging efficacy for middle-aged and older women. For all three age groups, viewing positive aging TikTok videos increased positive attitude toward older adults through positive affect about aging. Watching positive aging videos was not associated with aging uncertainty in any group. Additional associations and implications for the CEMSA and attitudes toward older adults are discussed.
BernholdQ. S. (2019). Older parents’ and middle-aged children’s communication as predictors of children’s successful aging. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 38(3), 305–328. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X18815929
3.
BernholdQ. S.BertramV.DevereuxS.BlueJ.JuliusK. (2024). Explicating the pathways among memorable message themes about religion and spirituality, positive role models for aging, and successful aging. Southern Communication Journal, 89(3–4), 178–198. https://doi.org/10.1080/1041794X.2024.2370766
4.
BernholdQ. S.GasiorekJ. (2020). Older adults’ perceptions of their own and their romantic partners’ age-related communication and their associations with aging well, depressive symptoms, and alcohol use disorder symptoms. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 37(4), 1172–1192. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407519890413
5.
BernholdQ. S.GilesH. (2019). Older adults’ recalled memorable messages about aging and their associations with successful aging. Human Communication Research, 45(4), 474–507. https://doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqz011
6.
BrownA.KnightT. (2015). Shifts in media images of women appearance and social status from 1960 to 2010: A content analysis of beauty advertisements in two Australian magazines. Journal of Aging Studies, 35, 74–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2015.08.003
7.
BussoD. S.VolmertA.Kendall-TaylorN. (2019). Reframing aging: Effect of a short-term framing intervention on implicit measures of age bias. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 74(4), 559–564. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gby080
CooneyC.MinahanJ.SiedleckiK. L. (2021). Do feelings and knowledge about aging predict ageism?Journal of Applied Gerontology, 40(1), 28–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/0733464819897526
11.
CooperR. A. (2025). #PositiveAging: A content analysis of positive aging TikTok videos. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 101(1), 48–67. https://doi.org/10.1177/00914150241297895
12.
DajchesL.GahlerH.TeránL.YanK.ZengJ.Stevens AubreyJ. (2025). “I made you look” . . . and comment: Exploring the role of TikTok on body image and acceptance of cosmetic surgery. Psychology of Popular Media, 14(4), 530–538. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000566
Entrena-SerranoC. (2025). Watch, scroll, repeat: How interface design shapes consumptive curation affordances on TikTok. Social Media+ Society, 11(3), 20563051251358529. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251358529
17.
FormosaM. (2021). Manifestations of internalized ageism in older adult learning. University of Toronto Quarterly, 90(2), 169–182. https://doi.org/10.3138/utq.90.2.08
18.
FowlerC.BernholdQ. (2023). Implications of older adults’ attributions for young adults’ attitudes to aging: A vignette study. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 42(1), 31–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X221105096
19.
FowlerC.GasiorekJ.GilesH. (2015). The role of communication in aging well: Introducing the communicative ecology model of successful aging. Communication Monographs, 82(4), 431–457. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2015.1024701
20.
Fuente-HernándezL.de la Fuente-RuizE.Gracia-GarcíaP.Serrano-GarcíaI.Álvarez-MonM. Á.Molina-RuizR. M. (2025). Using social media-based positive education to challenge negative stereotypes of aging: A quasi-experimental approach. BMC Public Health, 25(1), Article 533. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-21327-0
21.
GasiorekJ. (2022). Present-future self-continuity and intergenerational communication as predictors of young adults’ evaluations of older adults and attitudes toward aging. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 41(4), 476–489. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X211068539
GasiorekJ.FowlerC. (2020). Effects of “environmental chatter” about age and aging on middle-aged and older adults’ communication and perceptions of aging efficacy. Western Journal of Communication, 84(1), 98–122. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2019.1637930
24.
GasiorekJ.FowlerC. (2022). Associations between parents’ negative talk about aging and young adults’ negative affect and efficacy related to aging. Journal of Family Communication, 22(4), 374–386. https://doi.org/10.1080/15267431.2022.2108428
25.
GasiorekJ.FowlerC.GilesH. (2015). What does successful aging sound like? Profiling communication about aging. Human Communication Research, 41(4), 577–602. https://doi.org/10.1111/hcre.12060
26.
GasiorekJ.FowlerC.GilesH. (2016). Communication and successful aging. In NussbaumJ. F. (Ed.), Communication across the lifespan (pp. 35–50). Peter Lang.
27.
GasiorekJ.FowlerC.GilesH. (2019). Communication and successful aging: Testing alternative conceptualizations of uncertainty. Communication Monographs, 86(2), 229–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2018.1538561
GettingsP. E.KuangK. (2022). Extending the communicative ecology model of successful aging using talk about careers and retirement. Communication Monographs, 89(4), 493–514. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2021.2025410
30.
GonzalesE.TanJ.Morrow-HowellN. (2010). Assessment of the refined aging semantic differential: Recommendations for enhancing validity. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 53(4), 304–318. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634371003715791
31.
HaboushA.WarrenC. S.BenutoL. (2012). Beauty, ethnicity, and age: Does internalization of mainstream media ideals influence attitudes towards older adults?Sex Roles, 66, 668–676. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-0102-6
32.
KatzS.CalasantiT. (2015). Critical perspectives on successful aging: Does it “appeal more than it illuminates”?The Gerontologist, 55(1), 26–33. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnu027
33.
KuangK.GettingsP. E. (2023). Positive and negative role models in uncertainty management processes about aging. International Journal of Communication, 17, 5891–5912.
34.
LemM.PhamJ. T.KimJ. K.TangC. J. (2023). Changing aesthetic surgery interest in men: an 18-year analysis. Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, 47(5), 2136–2141. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-023-03344-9
35.
LiangJ.LuoB. (2012). Toward a discourse shift in social gerontology: From successful aging to harmonious aging. Journal of Aging Studies, 26(3), 327–334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2012.03.001
MartinsonM.BerridgeC. (2015). Successful aging and its discontents: A systematic review of the social gerontology literature. The Gerontologist, 55(1), 58–69. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnu037
38.
MateraC.NeriniA.StefanileC. (2018). Why are men interested in cosmetic surgery procedures? Examining the role of different forms of peer influence, social comparison, internalization, and body dissatisfaction. Body Image, 26, 74–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2018.06.003
39.
NetoJ.NetoF. (2024). Measuring ageism: Psychometric analysis of the Portuguese short form of the Fraboni Scale (FSA-SF). Measurement Instruments for the Social Sciences, 6(2024), Article e11993. https://doi.org/10.5964/miss.11993
40.
NgR.IndranN. (2022). Not too old for TikTok: How older adults are reframing aging. The Gerontologist, 62(8), 1207–1216. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnac055
41.
NgR.IndranN. (2023). Granfluencers on TikTok: Factors linked to positive self-portrayals of older adults on social media. PLoS One, 18(2), Article e0280281. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280281
42.
PolizziK. G. (2003). Assessing attitudes toward the elderly: Polizzi’s refined version of the aging semantic differential. Educational Gerontology, 29(3), 197–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/713844306
43.
PoonT. H.LiK. K. (2024). We fear so we judge: A mediation analysis on the relations among ageing anxiety, ageism, and ageist microaggressions. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 99(3), 356–372. https://doi.org/10.1177/00914150241235089
44.
PutnickD. L.BornsteinM. H. (2016). Measurement invariance conventions and reporting: The state of the art and future directions for psychological research. Developmental Review, 41, 71–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2016.06.004
45.
RamasubramanianS. (2007). Media-based strategies to reduce racial stereotypes activated by news stories. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 84(2), 249–264. https://doi.org/10.1177/107769900708400204
46.
RosseelY. (2012). lavaan: An R package for structural equation modeling. Journal of Statistical Software, 48(2), 1–36. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v048.i02
SeekisV.KennedyR. (2023). The impact of #beauty and #self-compassion tiktok videos on young women’s appearance shame and anxiety, self-compassion, mood, and comparison processes. Body Image, 45, 117–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.02.006
WatsonD.ClarkL. A. (1994). The PANAS-X: Manual for the positive and negative affect schedule-expanded form. University of Iowa. https://doi.org/10.17077/48vt-m4t2
53.
WisdomN. M.ConnorD. R.HoganL. R.CallahanJ. L. (2014). The relationship of anxiety and beliefs toward aging in ageism. Journal of Scientific Psychology, 10, 10–21.
54.
WongN. C.MasseyZ. B.BarbartiJ. L.BessarabovaE.BanasJ. A. (2022). Theorizing prejudice reduction via mediated intergroup contact. Journal of Media Psychology, 34(2), 89–100. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000338
55.
YuY.ZhaoB. (2022). Can TikTok promote a healthier ageing paradigm? A case study of older digital celebrities from China. Area, 54(2), 322–329. https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12777
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
