On the dominance of the old-age stereotype.

The stereotypes of groups identified by age (35- or 70-year-old) and either by sex (male, female), occupation (engineer, bus driver), or ethnicity (Canadian Indian, White Canadian) were assessed in a sample of college students and in a sample of elderly persons. The findings indicate that the observers stereotype young mature adults in terms of a variety of features; however, they stereotype old people mainly in terms of their age. This pattern holds for both the college sample and the elderly sample. The old-age stereotype that emerged consisted mainly of the following attributes: conservative, traditional, present-oriented, and moral. The implications of these findings for the perception of old people are discussed.