School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Cognitive Aging and Driving Laboratory, United States.
Accid Anal Prev. 2013 Jan;50:530-8. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2012.05.032. Epub 2012 Jun 22.
Older drivers are perceived as being dangerous and overly cautious by other drivers. We tested the hypothesis that this negative stereotype has a direct influence on the performance of older drivers. Based on the Stereotype Threat literature, we predicted that older driving performance would be altered after exposure to a Stereotype Threat. Sixty-one older drivers aged 65 and above completed a simulated driving assessment course. Prior to testing, half of the participants were told that the objective of the study was to investigate why older adults aged 65 and above were more implicated in on-road accidents (Stereotype Threat condition) and half were showed a neutral statement. Results confirmed that exposure to the threat significantly altered driving performance. Older adults in the Stereotype Threat condition made more driving mistakes than those in the control group. Interestingly, under a Stereotype Threat condition, older adults tended to commit more speeding infractions. We also observed that domain identification (whether driving is deemed important or not) moderated the impact of the threat. Taken together, these results support recent older drivers' performance models suggesting that the interaction between individual and social factors need to be considered when examining older drivers' performance.
老年司机在其他司机眼中被认为是危险和过于谨慎的。我们测试了这样一个假设，即这种负面刻板印象对老年司机的表现有直接影响。基于刻板印象威胁的文献，我们预测在受到刻板印象威胁后，老年司机的驾驶表现会发生改变。61 名年龄在 65 岁及以上的老年司机完成了一项模拟驾驶评估课程。在测试之前，一半的参与者被告知研究的目的是调查为什么 65 岁及以上的老年人更容易卷入道路事故（刻板印象威胁条件），另一半则看到了一个中立的陈述。结果证实，接触威胁确实改变了驾驶表现。在刻板印象威胁条件下，老年司机比对照组犯了更多的驾驶错误。有趣的是，在刻板印象威胁条件下，老年人往往更容易超速违章。我们还观察到，领域认同（是否认为驾驶很重要）调节了威胁的影响。总的来说，这些结果支持了最近的老年司机表现模型，即当考察老年司机的表现时，需要考虑个体和社会因素之间的相互作用。
