Stereotypes

A stereotype is a belief based on and informed by social assumptions or biases regarding another group of people and how that group looks, thinks, and behaves. Stereotypes can be used to form judgments, as they allow people to more easily interact with others based on categorical assumptions they make about them. There are stereotypes based on assumptions about race, age, gender, and so on. For example, stereotypes about aging include both positive and negative traits, such as viewing older adults as wise or, at the opposite end, as forgetful and frail?? (Cavanaugh & Blanchard-Fields, 2011).

Stereotypes can vary across different age groups. Young adults are often stereotyped as energetic, technologically adept, irresponsible, and self-centered. Depending on who holds the stereotype, they may be seen as inexperienced, impulsive, and lacking wisdom and control. The stronger they are the more these stereotypes contribute to assumptions about their capabilities and the roles they should be given in society.

Older adults are commonly stereotyped in both positive and negative ways, too. On the one hand, they are seen as wise and generous. They tend to be put into categories...

At the same time, older adults can be viewed as physically and mentally declining, and thus there can be negative stereotypes about them like the...…a negative stereotype about their group. Older adults may internalize the stereotype that their cognitive abilities will decline, which then actually triggers the decline.

An example of implicit stereotyping can be found in healthcare, where younger healthcare workers may unconsciously treat older patients as less competent. They may speak more slowly or simplify their communication, believing that the older adult will not comprehend otherwise. Another example is in the workplace, where older adults may be excluded from certain projects or jobs because of an implicit assumption that they are not as technologically adept or capable of handling it. This implicit stereotyping limits the contributions that older adults can make and reinforces…