When feeling different pays off: how older adults can counteract negative age-related information.

Negative age stereotypes are pervasive and threaten older adults' self-esteem. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that differentiation from one's age group reduces the impact of negative age-related information on older adults' self-evaluation. In Experiment 1, older adults (N = 83, M = 71.9 years) were confronted with neutral or negative age-related information followed by a manipulation of self-differentiation. Experiment 2 (N = 44, M = 73.55 years) tested the moderating role of self-differentiation in the relationship of implicit attitudes toward older adults and implicit self-esteem. Results suggest that self-differentiation prevents the impact of negative age-related information on older adults' self-esteem.