Age, Race, and Sexism Predict Hostile and Benevolent Ageism

The concept of ambivalent sexism demonstrates how both subtle and overt gender prejudice can exert a powerful influence. Ambivalent ageism illustrates how benevolent and hostile prejudice affect how older adults are viewed. I investigated the unique effects of each type of ageist prejudice on reactions to stereotype consistent and inconsistent images. I also investigated associations between sexist and ageist attitudes and differences in each type of prejudice as a function of gender, age, and race. I expected hostile ageism to predict unfavorable appraisals of counter-stereotypical portrayals of older adults and benevolent ageism to predict favorable appraisals of stereotypical portrayals of older adults. Results show that participants spent the most time looking at pictures that were age and gender stereotypical before responding. Higher hostile sexism scores correlated positively with hostile ageism and benevolent ageism. Compared to men, women scored higher on the benevolent sexism scale. Compared to African American participants, Caucasian participants had higher benevolent ageism, hostile ageism, and benevolent sexism scores. In summation, images that confirmed sexist and ageist attitudes were the ones participants spent the longest time looking at. This reflects an effort to react against unwanted biases. Higher hostile sexism scores predicted ageism of any type. This supports the idea that prejudice in one area predicts other forms of prejudice. African Americans scored lowest in both types of ageism, suggesting greater intergenerational support within their communities. Overall, a lack of divide between benevolent and hostile ageism indicates a wider acceptance of various ageist views