Psychology of Aging Unit, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
INTELSIG Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium; Laboratory of Human Motion Analysis, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2018 Sep-Oct;78:181-189. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2018.06.013. Epub 2018 Jun 26.
This study investigated the way negative stereotypes influence older adults' physical performance and how old they feel mentally and physically. Sixty-four older adults aged 65 years and older performed different physical tasks using a 3D optoelectronic system under a low or high stereotype threat condition. Self-perceptions of aging were considered as a moderator of the effects of threat. Overall, the effects of threat on physical performance were mostly not significant across tasks. However, threat condition influenced older adults' mental subjective age after they had performed the physical tests; people in the high-threat condition felt closer to their chronological age. Threat also influenced participants' physical subjective age, and this effect was moderated by self-perceptions of aging. More precisely, participants in the high-threat condition felt 7% physically older than their chronological age when they had more negative self-perceptions, while participants in the low-threat condition felt 13% younger. No differences emerged for participants who had more positive self-perceptions. The present findings suggest that performing physical tests under stereotype threat might worsen older people's subjective experience of their own aging by making them feel older.
本研究调查了负面刻板印象如何影响老年人的身体表现以及他们在心理和身体上的感觉。64 名年龄在 65 岁及以上的老年人在低或高刻板印象威胁条件下使用 3D 光电系统执行不同的身体任务。衰老的自我认知被认为是威胁效应的调节因素。总的来说，威胁对各项任务的身体表现影响大多不显著。然而，威胁条件影响了老年人在完成身体测试后的心理主观年龄；处于高威胁条件下的人感觉更接近他们的实际年龄。威胁还影响了参与者的身体主观年龄，这种影响受到衰老自我认知的调节。更确切地说，当参与者有更消极的自我认知时，他们在高威胁条件下会感觉比实际年龄老 7%，而在低威胁条件下会感觉年轻 13%。对于自我认知更积极的参与者，没有出现差异。本研究结果表明，在刻板印象威胁下进行身体测试可能会使老年人对自身衰老的主观体验恶化，使他们感觉更老。
