Immunity to Popular Stereotypes of Aging? Seniors and Stereotype Threat

Previous research suggests that seniors' short-term performance is affected by stereotype threat--defined as a situation in which an individual is at risk of confirming a negative characterization about one's group. The current study attempted to replicate and extend these findings to areas of cognitive and physical functioning considered important to seniors' quality of life and known to decline with age. In total, 99 seniors were tested on six dependent measures: recall performance, reaction time, grip strength, flexibility, walking speed, and self-concept. While seniors were affected by the stereotype intervention, they suffered no performance decrements on the main dependent measures. This raises the intriguing possibility that a certain segment of seniors may be immune to popular stereotypes of aging. (Contains 3 tables.)