Center on Aging, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
Department of Psychology, Radford University, Radford, VA, USA.
Aging Ment Health. 2021 Aug;25(8):1507-1514. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2020.1758909. Epub 2020 May 2.
Ageist sexual stereotypes may prohibit midlife and older adults from achieving sexual wellness when stereotypical beliefs about aging, sex, and intimacy become internalized over the life course (i.e. stereotype embodiment). Though there are several studies examining the application of stereotype embodiment theory to various health behaviors, it has not been applied to sexual and intimate health across the life course. The current study examined sexual stereotype embodiment by assessing the impact of aging-sexual-stigma on sexual and intimate activity among midlife and older adults.
In this cross sectional study, a convenience sample of 972 adults aged 50 and older was recruited via a crowdsourcing platform. Participants completed an online survey assessing attitudes about aging sexuality and their participation in a spectrum of sexual and intimate behaviors. Hierarchical linear regression was used to examine the study hypotheses related to sexual and intimate behaviors among middle age and older adults.
Results of this exploratory study suggest that embodiment of sexual stereotypes effects both midlife and older adults, with endorsement of aging sexual stigma predicting lower engagement in both sexual and intimate activities. Sexual embodiment had similar effects across age cohort and gender.
In addition to pervasive societal impact, ageist sexual stereotypes appear to affect individual sexual health and wellness via internalized beliefs. This provides preliminary evidence for stereotype embodiment in a novel domain, sexual health. Future research should explore potential age and cohort effects across the life course in longitudinal studies with robust measures of aging sexual stigma.
年龄歧视性的性刻板印象可能会阻碍中年和老年人实现性健康，因为随着年龄、性和亲密关系的刻板观念在整个生命周期中内化（即刻板印象体现）。尽管有几项研究考察了刻板印象体现理论在各种健康行为中的应用，但它尚未应用于整个生命周期的性和亲密健康。本研究通过评估老龄化-性污名对中年和老年人的性和亲密活动的影响，考察了性刻板印象体现。
在这项横断面研究中，通过众包平台招募了 972 名 50 岁及以上的成年人作为便利样本。参与者完成了一项在线调查，评估了他们对衰老性的态度以及他们参与一系列性和亲密行为的情况。分层线性回归用于检验与中年和老年人的性和亲密行为相关的研究假设。
这项探索性研究的结果表明，性刻板印象的体现对中年和老年人都有影响，对衰老性污名的认可预测了性和亲密活动的参与度降低。性刻板印象的体现对年龄群体和性别都有相似的影响。
除了普遍的社会影响外，年龄歧视性的性刻板印象似乎还通过内化的信念影响个人的性健康和幸福。这为性健康这一新颖领域的刻板印象体现提供了初步证据。未来的研究应该在具有老龄化性污名的强有力测量指标的纵向研究中，探索整个生命周期中的潜在年龄和队列效应。
