Examination of age related stereotypes and the linguistic intergroup bias using two measures

The linguistic intergroup bias is a phenomenon where people use more abstract language to talk positively about in-groups and negatively about out-groups (Maass, Salvi, Arcuri, & Semin, 1989). This has been established for many in-groups, but has not been extended to age-related stereotypes. This study extended the linguistic intergroup bias to attitudes towards older adults. It was predicted that statements about what participants liked about their peers and disliked about older adults would be more abstract than statements about what participants disliked about their peers and liked about older adults. Results supported these predictions. Also, a new measure of linguistic abstractness was tested, but was found not to be useful in this context.Department of Psychological ScienceThesis (M.A.