Pinquart Martin
Department of Developmental Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University, Steiger 3, Haus 1, D-07743 Jena, Germany.
Exp Aging Res. 2002 Jul-Sep;28(3):317-36. doi: 10.1080/03610730290080353.
The study investigates whether the confrontation with negative, age-stereotyped information leads to a deterioration of older adults' self-perceptions as suggested by the labeling theory, or whether older adults protect their self-perceptions against deterioration as suggested by theories of the resilience of the aging self. Self perceptions, as well as peer-perception of other older adults in general were assessed in a pre-post design. In the experimental group, 60 older adults received negative information about competence in old age. The control group of 40 older adults received neutral information. In the experimental condition, the general perceptions of other older adults worsened whereas their self-perception improved. In the control condition, only small changes emerged. Furthermore, the change of self-perceptions varied by the perceived applicability of the negative information for oneself. We conclude that older adults use negative age stereotypes more as a standard of reference for downward comparison rather than integrating them into their self-perceptions.
本研究旨在探讨，如标签理论所指出的，接触负面的、带有年龄刻板印象的信息是否会导致老年人自我认知的恶化；或者，如老年自我弹性理论所提出的，老年人是否会保护自己的自我认知不致恶化。自我认知以及对其他老年人的同龄人认知，采用前后测设计进行评估。实验组的60名老年人收到了关于老年能力的负面信息。40名老年人组成的对照组收到了中性信息。在实验条件下，对其他老年人的总体认知变差，而他们的自我认知得到改善。在对照条件下，仅出现了微小变化。此外，自我认知的变化因负面信息对自身的感知适用性而异。我们得出结论，老年人更多地将负面年龄刻板印象用作向下比较的参照标准，而非将其纳入自我认知。
