Older
individuals who are subliminally exposed to positive stereotypes about aging
showed improved physical functioning that can last for several weeks, a new
study led by the Yale School of Public Health has found.
Researchers used
a novel intervention method to examine for the first time whether exposure to
positive age stereotypes could weaken negative age stereotypes and their
effects over time, and lead to healthier outcomes.
The study, to be
published online in the journal Psychological Science, consisted of 100
older individuals (average age 81 years) who live in the greater New Haven,
Connecticut area. Some of the participants were subjected to positive age
stereotypes on a computer screen that flashed words such as "spry"
and "creative" at speeds that were too fast to allow for conscious
awareness.
Individuals
exposed to the positive messaging exhibited a range of psychological and
physical improvements that were not found in control subjects. They benefited
from improved physical function, such as physical balance, which continued for
three weeks after the intervention ended. Also, during the same period,
positive age stereotypes and positive self-perceptions of aging were
strengthened, and negative age stereotypes and negative self-perceptions of
aging were weakened.
"The
challenge we had in this study was to enable the participants to overcome the
negative age stereotypes which they acquire from society, as in everyday
conversations and television comedies," said lead researcher Becca Levy,
associate professor and director of the Social and Behavioral Science Division.
"The study's successful outcome suggests the potential of directing
subliminal processes toward the enhancement of physical function."
While it has
been previously shown by Levy that negative age stereotypes can weaken an older
individual's physical functioning, this is the first time that subliminal
activation of positive age stereotypes was found to improve outcomes over time.
The study found
that the intervention influenced physical function through a cascade of
positive effects: It first strengthened the subjects' positive age stereotypes,
which then strengthened their positive self-perceptions, which then improved
their physical function.
The study's
effect on physical function surpassed a previous study by others that involved
a six-month-exercise intervention's effect with participants of similar ages.
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