Negative Aging Stereotypes and the Agentic-Communal Dichotomy

Abstract

Prior research has documented negative aging stereotypes. Our hypothesis is that these only apply when a certain dimension of traits is employed and when older persons occupy certain roles. 42 college students were asked to rate the extent to which each of several “agentic” traits, e.g., active, aggressive, independent, and “communal” traits, e.g., understanding, warm, helpful, characterized a roommate and college professor, both of whom were stated to be either 23 or 65 years of age. For the roommate (but not the professor), the young person was seen as more agentic than the older person. No differences were found on the dimension of communality. It was concluded that young college students may attribute negative behaviors to older persons but this is more likely when the negative behaviors are agentic in nature and the older person occupies certain roles such as “retired person.”