Personal Aging Experiences and Aging-Related Beliefs – Projection Processes in Daily Life and Multiple Countries

TL;DR

This study explores how personal experiences of aging influence beliefs about older adults, finding that negative experiences can lead to more ageist attitudes.

Contribution

The study introduces the concept of projecting personal aging experiences onto aging-related beliefs in daily life across multiple countries.

Findings

Reporting above-average losses was linked to higher ageist attitudes across countries.

On days with more losses, endorsement of ageist attitudes was unexpectedly lower.

Gains in aging experiences were unrelated to ageist attitudes in all countries.

Abstract

Views of aging, including personal aging perceptions and beliefs about characteristics and behaviors of older adults, impact behavior and developmental outcomes in later life. While most research focuses on how aging-related beliefs become internalized into personal aging experiences, aging perceptions can also affect aging-related beliefs, indicating a projection or “externalization” of personal aging experiences. Put differently, aging-related beliefs are not immune against one’s own age-related experiences. This study aimed to understand how personal aging experiences affect aging-related beliefs in a daily context and across multiple countries. Participants in Germany (N = 199, 50-91 years), Türkiye (N = 50, 50-90 years), USA (N = 71, 54-85 years), and Israel (N = 78, 50-88 years), reported on their daily experiences of age-related gains and losses, and on their endorsement of ageist attitudes for 14 consecutive days. Projecting own aging experiences should influence endorsement of aging-related beliefs. Specifically, experiencing more losses and fewer gains should result in endorsing more ageist attitudes, both daily and overall. Our results indicated partial support for the projection hypothesis. Across investigated countries, reporting above-average losses was related to higher endorsement of ageist attitudes. In contrast to the idea of projection, on days with more losses, endorsement of ageist attitudes was lower. Gains were unrelated to endorsement of ageist attitudes in all countries. Our results highlight the impact of negative own aging experiences for shaping beliefs about (other) older adults. Interventions targeting aging-related beliefs, thus, need to consider personal aging experiences.