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Intergenerational contact is beneficial for improving attitudes toward older people, including age stereotypes (AS). To date, however, research on the topic has focused on younger adults (intergenerational contact), overlooking the possible perks for older adults themselves (contact with same-age peers). The current study investigated the association between contact with older adults and views of the self in old age (VSOA) among younger and older adults in a domain-specific way. The sample comprised younger (39-55 years, n = 1,012) and older (65-90 years, n = 1,344) adults from the Ageing as Future international study. Findings indicated that contact with older adults was related to more positive VSOA and this was partly mediated by AS. These relations were stronger for older adults, indicating that interactions with other older adults may help favorably shape how older adults view their ingroup and aging. Beneficial effects emerged mostly in the friends and leisure domains.

A considerable gap between one’s pension and living expenses in old age exists in almost all developed countries, making savings and financial preparation for old age inevitable. Nevertheless, financial preparation for old age substantially differs across countries. Using the data from the AAF project, we investigated what motivates people in different countries (USA, Germany, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) to financially prepare for old age. Financial preparation was the highest in the USA, followed by Germany and the Czech Republic. The lowest levels of financial preparation were found in Hong Kong and Taiwan. These differences were explained by age-related expectations on a “paternalistic” role of the state: Greater endorsement of the idea that the state should provide financial support to older citizens led to less preparation. These findings are in line with the idea that individuals’ beliefs and expectations regarding the role of institutions shape personal actions.

Age discrimination is pervasive in society which bears far-reaching consequences for individuals in terms of decreased psychological and physical health. Age discrimination can be experienced in different life-domains and perceived as a social (others’ experiences) or as a personal phenomenon (own experiences). Our first goal was to examine country- and age-related differences in personal experiences of age discrimination in distinct life domains, reported by 2,817 participants aged 40 to 90 years from the US, China, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Taiwan. As another goal, we investigated the impact of age discrimination on life satisfaction. Personal age discrimination was domain-specific, with more experiences reported in the family, work, and personality domains. Personal age discrimination increased with age and was higher in China and Taiwan. Age discrimination negatively predicted life satisfaction. This negative effect was more pronounced if age discrimination was experienced in domains with high subjective importance.