Half of a sample of 275 high school and college students rated "generalized"elderly targets, described only by gender and age, and half rated known elderly. Known elderly were rated more positively than generalized elderly. Within the generalized group, younger targets were rated more favorably than older targets and females more positively than males. This pattern was not replicated in the known target group. The results suggest that given the opportunity, youths use information other than gender and age to evaluate the elderly, but in the absence of additional information, stereotypes of elderly emerge in attitudes of youths toward the elderly.
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