What Do Older People Think That Others Think of Them, and Does It Matter? The Role of Meta-Perceptions and Social Norms in the Prediction of Perceived Age Discrimination

Psychological theories of aging highlight the importance of social context. However, very little research has distinguished empirically between older people’s perception of how others in their social context perceive them (personal meta-perceptions) and the shared perceptions in society (societal meta-perceptions). Drawing on theories of intergroup relations and stereotyping and using a multilevel perspective, this article examines how well older people’s perceptions of age discrimination (PAD) are predicted by (a) older people’s personal meta-perceptions, (b) societal meta-perceptions, and (c) social norms of intolerance toward age prejudice. Aging meta-perceptions are differentiated into the cognitive and affective components of ageism. Multilevel analyses of data from the European Social Survey (N over 70 years of age 8,123, 29 countries; European Social Survey (ESS) Round 4 Data, 2008) confirmed that older people’s personal meta-perceptions of negative age stereotypes and specific intergroup emotions (pity, envy, contempt) are associated with higher PAD. However, at the societal-level, only paternalistic meta-perceptions were consistently associated with greater PAD. The results show that a few meta-perceptions operate only as a psychological phenomenon in explaining PAD, some carry consonant, and others carry contrasting effects at the societal-level of analysis. This evidence extends previous research on aging meta-perceptions by showing that both the content of meta-perceptions and the level of analysis at which they are assessed make distinct contributions to PAD. Moreover, social norms of intolerance of age prejudice have a larger statistical effect than societal meta-perceptions. Social interventions would benefit from considering these differential findings

Explaining illness with evil: pathogen prevalence fosters moral vitalism

Pathogens represent a significant threat to human health leading to the emergence of strategies designed to help manage their negative impact. We examined how spiritual beliefs developed to explain and predict the devastating effects of pathogens and spread of infectious disease. Analysis of existing data in studies 1 and 2 suggests that moral vitalism (beliefs about spiritual forces of evil) is higher in geographical regions characterized by historical higher levels of pathogens. Furthermore, drawing on a sample of 3140 participants from 28 countries in study 3, we found that historical higher levels of pathogens were associated with stronger endorsement of moral vitalis- tic beliefs. Furthermore, endorsement of moral vitalistic beliefs statistically mediated the previously reported relationship between pathogen prevalence and conser- vative ideologies, suggesting these beliefs reinforce behavioural strategies which function to prevent infection. We conclude that moral vitalism may be adaptive: by emphasizing concerns over contagion, it provided an explanatory model that enabled human groups to reduce rates of contagious disease

Perceived Age Discrimination Across Age in Europe: From an Ageing Society to a Society for All Ages

Ageism is recognized as a significant obstacle to older people’s well-being, but age discrimination against younger people has attracted less attention. We investigate levels of perceived age discrimination across early to late adulthood, using data from the European Social Survey (ESS), collected in 29 countries (N = 56,272). We test for approximate measurement invariance across countries. We use local structural equation modeling as well as moderated nonlinear factor analysis to test for measurement invariance across age as a continuous variable. Using models that account for the moderate degree of noninvariance, we find that younger people report experiencing the highest levels of age discrimination. We also find that national context substantially affects levels of ageism experienced among older respondents. The evidence highlights that more research is needed to address ageism in youth and across the life span, not just old adulthood. It also highlights the need to consider factors that differently contribute to forms of ageism experienced by people at different life stages and ages

Being old and ill’ across different countries: Social status, age identification and older people’s subjective health

Objective: It has been suggested that the extent to which older adults identify with 'old-age' is associated with greater subjective ill-health. Based on social identity theory, we hypothesise that the societal social status of older people should moderate this relationship, such that the effect of age-identification on subjective health should be stronger in countries in which older people have lower social status. Design and main outcome measures: Subjective health, age identification and the perceived status of people over 70 were assessed in a subsample of older respondents (N = 6185) of the 2008/2009 European Social Survey. We examined whether country-level differences in the perceived status of older adults moderated the effect of age identification on subjective ill-health. Results: 20% of the total variance in older people's subjective ill-health was due to country differences. The hypothesised cross-level interaction was significant in that the negative association between old age identification and subjective health was stronger in countries where the social status of older people is perceived to be lower. Conclusion: The results provide an important insight into being ascribed a higher social status is likely to have a protective function for older people

Social Psychology & Gerontology: integrating theory to explain and intervene in age discrimination towards older people in Europe

Today, age discrimination is one of the most fundamental forms of discrimination endured by Europeans. In an ageing society this carries important consequences for the overall health and well-being of European citizens. This chapter discusses how integrating Social Psychology with Gerontology theorizing may contribute to the design of proper research and interventions dealing with this pressing social issue. To illustrate our discussion we present two case studies based on our findings from the “Experiences and expressions of ageism” module of the European Social Survey. Case 1 shows how the perception of age discrimination by older people mediates and helps to explain the effects of wealth inequality on older people’s subjective health. Case 2 presents compelling evidence showing that, among older people, identifying with being an older person is associated with poor health outcomes, especially in countries where older people’s status is lower. These findings are discussed in light of their implications for theory and practical intervention in this domain

How Does Income Inequality Get Under the Skin? The Mediating Role of Perceived Age Discrimination in the Inequality- Health Nexus for Older and Younger People

The relative income hypothesis predicts poorer health in societies with greater income inequality, yet the psychological mechanisms that explain this association are not clear to date. This study tests the hypothesis that perceived age discrimination acts as a mediator in the inequality-health nexus for people who categorize themselves as old. It is expected that the detrimental mediating effect of perceived age discrimination does not occur for those who categorize themselves as young, since their low status is only temporary until they move to the higher status middle-aged group. A cross-sectional multilevel analysis of the 2008/09 European Social Survey (ESS, Round 4) was conducted. A subsample of respondents who perceive themselves as belonging to the old (N = 10,650) or young age group (N = 15,635) was analysed. The Gini coefficient was used to represent national inequalities in income in each of the 28 ESS countries. Mediation analyses within the multilevel structural equation modelling paradigm indicate that perceived age discrimination fully mediates the associations between income inequality and self-rated health for people who categorize themselves as old, but not as young. Our findings illustrate the importance of the socio-economic context as well as the permeability of group boundaries in the area of perceived discrimination and well-being