Age-Related Stereotypes: A Comparison of American and Chinese Cultures

Abstract

Background: It is commonly assumed that age-related stereotypes are more positive in East Asian cultures compared to Western cultures. However, research conducted in Western cultures has demonstrated that age-related stereotypes are multidimensional and their valence is content-dependent. Objective: In this study we investigated stereotypes about young and old adults, held by both young and old in the US and in China by focusing on the valence of age stereotypes across two content domains: social/emotional and mental/physical. The goal was to identify whether there were any cultural differences in age-related stereotypes in Chinese and American cultures. Methods: Both young and old Chinese and American participants were asked to describe typical young and typical old people. All responses were then coded for valence (positive/negative/neutral) and for content (mental/physical, social/emotional, other). Descriptors about young and old people were initially analyzed separately; then data were integrated to examine group tendencies to be more positive or negative for each target age group. Results: In both cultures, stereotypes reflected a shift from more positive to increasingly negative views of mental and physical traits as a function of aging. In social and emotional domains, stereotypes regarding old and young adults were relatively neutral, except for a small positive bias found among the young Chinese adults for both target age groups. Conclusion: Our results indicate that age-related beliefs regarding typical older adults are similar across East-Asian and Western cultures and that a global positive bias for old age in East-Asia is absent.

The Effects of Sociodemographic Characteristics on Chinese Elders′ Perception of the Image of Ageing

“…Furthermore, as China has to "compress" her modernization process in a short period of time, sacrifices have to be made for the rapid decline of some of its traditional values, like respecting the old. Similar experiences of diminishing image of the elderly have also been reported in other East Asian societies [28].…”

Ageism: we are our own worst enemy

“…Boduroglu et al, 2006). More importantly, ageism is a form of prejudice that goes unchallenged, and even celebrated in many fields, such as in the media, advertising, through jokes and everyday language.…”

The impact of beliefs about face recognition ability on memory retrieval processes in young and older adults

“…What is more, we expected that negative information would have a larger effect on older compared to young adults, because negative stereotypes about memory and aging are ubiquitous in Western societies (Boduroglu, et al, 2006;Levy & Langer, 1994).…”

“…We surmised that the FN group 7 would adopt a prevention focus, and thus, the FN group would set a higher response criterion on the recognition test compared to the control group in order to avoid errors of commission (i.e., positively recognizing a face that they did not actually previously encounter). We expected that false negative information would especially impact older adults, owing to the fact that negative stereotypes about aging and memory abound in Western society (Boduroglu, Luo, & Park, 2006;Levy & Langer, 1994), which is the culture in which the current study was conducted. Also based on the regulatory focus framework, we hypothesized that positive feedback would induce a promotion focus orientation, wherein people are concerned with maximizing gains and, therefore, engage in greater risk taking (Higgins, 1997;1998).…”