Who’s “Really” Old?: Addressing Shifting Targets of Ageism through Intragroup and Intergroup Perceptions of Aging

The “Vulnerability” Discourse in Times of Covid-19: Between Abandonment and Protection of Canadian Francophone Older Adults

“…Findings from North and Fiske (61) suggest that descriptive stereotypes pave the way to prescriptive stereotypes in that older adults are expected to behave in the way they are stereotypically portrayed and that derailing from such expectations may entail punishment or resentment. Recent studies conducted before and during the pandemic suggest that compassionate ageist attitudes are particularly expressed toward the oldest old (62), who, as argued by Higgs and Gilleard (63,64), embody the most feared and marginalized aspects of aging and old age.…”

“Old” Does Not Always Mean “Incompetent”: The Implication of Respect in the Perception of Older People Subtypes

“…On top of that, some authors pointed to a distinction between the subtypes of older people based on age; for example, that negative subtypes tend to be associated with more advanced age than positive subtypes (Hummert, 1990). Likewise, it has been argued that the old-old stereotype is mainly a benevolent form of ageism, rated as high on the warmth dimension and low on competence one (North & Fiske, 2013c; for Canadian context, see Lagacé & Frizly, 2017). Our study did not test these specific aspects, but we conducted a preliminary study (Świątkowski & Boudjemadi, 2014) that focused on the most representative subtypes of older people, SCM, and age.…”

“…This finding is consistent with a recent study in which participants were asked to rate young-old and old-old individuals on competence and warmth dimensions. The study showed that the old-old individuals are perceived as the least competent group between the two and, therefore, that very old individuals are particularly at risk of being the target of ageist stereotypes (Lagacé & Firzly, 2017).…”

Contemporary Perspectives on Ageism. Liat Ayalon & Clemens Tesch‐Römer (Eds.). 2018. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. ISBN 978‐3‐319‐73819‐2. $59.99. Hardcover.

“…As a result, negative out-group bias is much stronger toward older adults than younger ones, and this may actually explain why older adults often express the desire to be associated with (or be part of) younger age-based groups: Being aware of the negative stereotypes around aging, they do not self-identify with their peers and actually express ageist attitudes toward them. This intragroup, intragenerational ageist phenomenon by which older adults stigmatize other older adults is documented (Lagacé & Firzly, 2017). Evidently, negative out-group bias contributes to the pervasiveness of ageism in society, among both the young and old.…”

“…Indeed, society pays a heavy price for unchallenged ageism, notably through the divides that it generates between young and old, but also those among elderly people themselves. For example, Lagacé and Firzly's () study suggested that individuals aged 85 years and older are the subject of ageist beliefs on the part of not only young adults (aged 18–25 years) but also older adults 60 to 75 years old. Negative stereotypes around aging, notably those related to a generalized decline, may feed into anxiety around aging and reinforce psychological distance between young and old as well as among older adults themselves.…”