A Review and Meta-Analysis of Age-Based Stereotype Threat: Negative Stereotypes, Not Facts, Do the Damage.

Stereotype threat effects arise when an individual feels at risk of confirming a negative stereotype about their group and consequently underperforms on stereotype relevant tasks (Steele, 2010). Among older people, underperformance across cognitive and physical tasks is hypothesized to result from age-based stereotype threat (ABST) because of negative age-stereotypes regarding older adults’ competence. The present review and meta-analyses examine 22 published and 10 unpublished articles, including 82 effect sizes (N = 3882) investigating ABST on older people’s (Mage = 69.5) performance. The analysis revealed a significant small-to-medium effect of ABST (d = .28) and important moderators of the effect size. Specifically, older adults are more vulnerable to ABST when (a) stereotype-based rather than fact-based manipulations are used (d = .52); (b) when performance is tested using cognitive measures (d = .36); and (c) occurs reliably when the dependent variable is measured proximally to the manipulation. The review raises important theoretical and methodological issues, and areas for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved

Are they half as strong as they used to be? An experiment testing whether age-related social comparisons impair older people's hand grip strength and persistence

OBJECTIVE: To assess how age-related social comparisons, which are likely to arise inadvertently or deliberately during assessments, may affect older people's performance on tests that are used to assess their needs and capability. DESIGN: The study randomly assigned participants to a comparison with younger people or a no comparison condition and assessed hand grip strength and persistence. Gender, education, type of residence, arthritis and age were also recorded. SETTING: Age UK centres and senior's lunches in the South of England. PARTICIPANTS: An opportunity sample of 56 adults, with a mean age of 82.25 years. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: Hand grip strength measured using a manual hand dynamometer and persistence of grip measured using a stopwatch. RESULTS: Comparison caused significantly worse performance measured by both strength (comparison =6.85 kg, 95% CI 4.19 kg to 9.5 kg, control group =11.07 kg, 95% CI 8.47 kg to 13.68 kg, OR =0.51, p=0.027) and persistence (comparison =8.36 s, 95% CI 5.44 s to 11.29 s; control group =12.57 s, 95% CI 9.7 s to 15.45 s, OR =0.49, p=0.045). These effects remained significant after accounting for differences in arthritis, gender, education and adjusting for population age norms. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the potential for age comparisons and negative stereotype activation during assessment of older people, such assessments may underestimate physical capability by up to 50%. Because age comparisons are endemic, this means that assessment tests may sometimes seriously underestimate older people's capacity and prognosis, which has implications for the way healthcare professionals treat them in terms of autonomy and dependency

The postfeminist fantasy of female job seekers

Job seeking in a contemporary UK labour market is complex and demanding. The distribution of middle-skilled labour is decreasing, as is access to social security such as welfare provision during prolonged periods of seeking work. Women in particular are at risk of displacement within current labour market conditions and are more likely to experience underemployment and feelings of underutilisation. Running parallel to this are cultural narratives that encourage work to be a source of heightened meaning, purpose and passion. This indicates a tension worth exploring in relation to how female job seekers navigate a UK labour market post higher education. Using unstructured interviews and narrative enquiry, a total of 38 interviews are analysed using the voice-centred relational method. Everyday job seeking practices and ideals are articulated through a logics approach including: the social logics of individual effort; the political logics of female success; and the fantasmatic logics of getting it right. Findings suggest that participants remain gripped by job seeking practices and ideals characteristic of a postfeminist ideology. They strive to become ideal (as determined by a postfeminist ideology), working women and prior to securing employment, job seeking itself becomes the work undertaken. This necessitates that they are entirely accountable and responsible for their job seeking and that their success depends on them undertaking extensive self-work and being unwaveringly confident, positive and proactive. However, participant accounts of guilt, self-doubt and anxiety associated with job seeking suggests that a postfeminist ideology relating to getting it ‘right’, female success and individual effort in this context needs to be challenged. By exploring the enactment of a postfeminist ideology in the context of job seeking, participants’ burdens are highlighted. This has implications for how the female job seeker is both conceptualised and supported. This thesis calls on policymakers and job seekers themselves to account for contextual factors such as labour market conditions and to critically engage with taken for granted postfeminist assumptions of what an ideal working woman is

Self, interpersonal and organisational acts of compassion amongst nurses during times of acute stress: A qualitative analysis

Background: There is a global shortage of nurses and new strategies are required to recruit, support and retain this staff group. Organisational culture can have a significant impact on staff wellbeing and commitment. Recent years have seen attempts to foster a compassionate culture across healthcare systems. However, little is known about how nurses initiate self-care and how they feel cared for by their organisation, particularly in times of acute stress and need. Aims: This paper aims to address the research question, ‘In what ways do nurses experience compassion (or not) during times of acute stress?’, identifying where and how compassionate acts were enacted by individuals, within teams or organisations. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 50 UK National Health Service (NHS) nurses in a longitudinal qualitative study (between March 2020 and September 2022). Results: Three themes were derived from our narrative analysis including: (1) Learning and practising self-compassion; (2) The presence and absence of interpersonal compassion; and (3) Organisational (non) compassionate acts. Findings indicate that self-compassion requires permission and discipline, often being unfamiliar terrain for nurses. Interpersonal compassion can buoy nurses during challenging times but can often be absent across teams. Nurses’ experiences of organisational acts of compassion were limited, and they often felt de-valued, unsupported and replaceable. Conclusions: Compassionate acts are enacted across three levels (self, team and organisation). To retain staff, particularly in acutely stressful or challenging situations, organisations, and those responsible for nursing management and policy need to foster a systems-based approach to compassionate culture.<br/

Psychological impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on nurses and midwives

In response to findings of the Impact of Covid-19 on Nurses survey study, conducted in 2020, a subsequent study explored nurses’ qualitative experiences of the pandemic; this article discusses the results. Most participants struggled to transition to new working practices in altered care settings with more critically ill patients, and most experienced high levels of stress and psychological distress. Key themes included duty and fear, resilience and stigma, changing public responses, nurses’ voices, and leaving the profession. There is an urgent need to support and restore nurses’ psychological wellbeing, and to improve their working conditions to enhance retention rates

The barriers to and enablers of positive attitudes to ageing and older people, at the societal and individual level

© Crown copyright 2015.In the light of social and economic challenges posed by rapid population ageing there is an increased need to understand ageism – how it is expressed and experienced, its consequences and the circumstances that contribute to more or less negative attitudes to age. Ageism is the most prevalent form of discrimination in the UK (Abrams et al., 2011a), estimated to cost the economy £31 billion per year (Citizens Advice, 2007). It restricts employment opportunities, and reduces workplace productivity and innovation (Swift et al., 2013). Ageism also results in inequality and social exclusion, reducing social cohesion and well-being (Abrams and Swift, 2012; Stuckelberger et al., 2012; Swift et al., 2012). Not only is ageism a barrier to the inclusion and full participation of older people in society, but it also affects everyone by obscuring our understanding of the ageing process. Moreover, by reinforcing negative stereotypes, ageism can even shape patterns of behaviour that are potentially detrimental to people’s self-interest (Lamont et al., 2015). Here we review national and some international research from the last 25 years to reveal what our core attitudes to ageing are and how they result in discrimination and other damaging consequences. We outline the prevalence of perceived age-based discrimination and its consequences for individuals and society, and then explore the individual and societal factors that contribute to more positive or negative attitudes to age and their application to reducing experiences of ageism. We conclude by considering areas that are likely to be key for policy, research and practice.Government Office for Scienc

Gaps in understanding the experiences of homecare workers providing care for people with dementia up to the end of life : a systematic review

This systematic review of the literature explores the perspectives and experiences of homecare workers providing care for people with dementia living at home up to the end of life. A search of major English language databases in 2016 identified 378 studies on the topic, of which 12 met the inclusion criteria. No empirical research was identified that specifically addressed the research question. However, synthesis of the findings from the broader literature revealed three overarching themes: value of job role, emotional labour and poor information and communication. The role of homecare workers supporting a person with dementia up to the end of life remains under-researched, with unmet needs for informational, technical and emotional support reported. The effective components of training and support are yet to be identified