Heckhausen J, Brim O G
Center for Psychology and Human Development, Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education, Berlin, Germany.
Psychol Aging. 1997 Dec;12(4):610-9. doi: 10.1037//0882-7974.12.4.610.
In this study the authors investigated social downgrading as reflected in the difference between perceptions about the self and about "most people my age." A large cross-national probability sample of adults at different age levels throughout adulthood provided ratings of perceived problems expected for the self and for "most other people my age" with regard to 12 domains of life (e.g., health, marriage, and job). Results showed that with regard to all domains, younger, middle-aged, and older adults believed other people's problems to be more serious than their own problems in these domains. Social downgrading was particularly pronounced for those domains for which a given participant experienced problems himself or herself. This self-protection tendency under threat was particularly pronounced in the older adults. The function and adaptive values for social downgrading across adulthood and old age are discussed.
在本研究中，作者调查了社会贬低现象，该现象体现在对自我的认知与对“大多数同龄人群体”的认知之间的差异上。一个涵盖不同年龄阶段成年人的大型跨国概率样本，对生活的12个领域（如健康、婚姻和工作）中自我以及“大多数同龄其他人”预期会出现的感知问题进行了评分。结果显示，在所有领域中，年轻人、中年人和老年人都认为其他人在这些领域的问题比自己的问题更严重。对于特定参与者自身经历过问题的领域，社会贬低现象尤为明显。在面临威胁时的这种自我保护倾向在老年人中尤为突出。本文还讨论了成年期和老年期社会贬低的功能及适应性价值。
