Social Roles Contribute to Age and Sex Stereotypes.

The purpose of this study was to test hypotheses drawn from the social role model about the process that people use in deciding what other people are like, focusing on the difference that other people's age, race, and sex make. A sample of non-Latino White students (N=671) ranging in age from 18 to 81 years used the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) to rate a person in one of 12 target groups (a race-unspecified or African-American woman or man in their late 20s, late 40s or late 60s). Race-unspecified targets were almost always seen as non-Latino Whites. Old persons and women were seen as significantly more communal and less agentic in personality than younger adults and men, respectively. When students' estimates of the likelihood that the target they were rating was retired was controlled, the main effect for age of target in communal traits disappeared. This finding supports the interpretation that age stereotypes partly stem from perceivers' observations of people's social roles. (Author/JBJ)