Clashes between young and old predict negative age stereotyping

Using content on older adults mined from TikTok, one of the fastest growing social media platforms today, researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) found that negative encounters with older adults significantly predicted negative age stereotyping.

Older individuals have embraced the teenage-dominated TikTok trend. [Gerontologist 2022;62:1207-1216; PLoS One 2023;18:e0280281; www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/07/07/what-the-rise-of-tiktok-says-about-generation-z/?sh=26ca0ee36549; accessed September 28, 2023] However, the presence of individuals from different generations on social media platforms created a discord that fuelled negative age stereotyping, sounding the alarm on ageism.

“As the usage of social media can affect the well-being and quality of life of older persons, it is vital to understand how members of this cohort are being portrayed by their younger contemporaries on TikTok,” said Assistant Professor Reuben Ng and research associate Nicole Indran, both from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS.

Ng and Indran evaluated 673 TikTok videos bearing the hashtags #Boomer and/or #OkBoomer with over 5 billion views. The videos should be about older adults but created by a younger person. [PLoS One 2023;18:e0285987]

Overall, one in two videos featured negative age stereotypes. “[O]lder adults were stereotyped by younger people as possessing values and beliefs at odds with those of the latter,” the researchers said. Seventy-nine percent of the videos were tied to ‘Negative Encounters with Older Adults’, more than half included criticisms of ‘Values and Beliefs of Older Adults’, and roughly 40 percent featured ‘Older Adults Antagonizing the Young’.

On logistic regression analysis, videos that criticized ‘Values and Beliefs of Older Adults’ were seven times more likely to feature negative age stereotypes (odds ratio [OR], 7.18). Videos about ‘Negative Encounters with Older Adults’ were eight times more likely to contain evidence of negative stereotypes of older adults (OR, 8.17), while those about ‘Older Adults Antagonizing the Young’ were 13 times more likely to have negative age stereotypes (OR, 12.96; p<0.001 for all).

These findings provide support for the study’s first hypothesis positing that these predictors will be linked to negative stereotypes of the older population, said Ng and Indran. They added that this might have been driven by the stereotypes that younger individuals apparently received (eg, narcissistic, hypersensitive) and being the subject of derision by older adults due to their youth.

“In line with the social identity theory, the negative attitudes towards older adults [could be] a defence mechanism on the part of younger individuals,” they said.

“Consistent with the intergroup threat theory, prior negative contact with a particular social group can be a key driver of anxiety towards that group,” they added. Such negative contact may amplify feelings of prejudice and a tendency to avoid members of a certain group due to the thought that future encounters might be negative as well. [Pers Soc Psychol Bull 2012;38:1629-1643; Pers Soc Psychol Bull 2017;43:347-364]

Conversely, videos portraying older adults as ‘Warm’ were 43 percent less likely to contain negative stereotypes, providing support for the study’s second hypothesis. “This reiterates past scholarly claims [suggesting] that older people are generally stereotyped as being high in warmth,” the researchers said.

Younger people should thus be exposed to older adult counter-stereotypes (eg, more sociable ones), they suggested. Although this may appear to support benevolent ageism, this might provide a protective buffer against the antagonistic stereotype tied to older adults. [Gerontologist 2017;57:e27-e36]

 

From demographic to derogatory

‘Baby Boomer’ was initially coined to refer to an individual born between the early 1940s and early 1960s. However, the label took a turn for the worse, as Baby Boomers are now pinpointed as responsible for a multitude of socioeconomic issues, giving rise to the phrase ‘Boomer Blaming’. [The Sociological Review 2021;69:727-742; Ageing & Society 2020;40:921-922] What was once a demographic label has now become derogatory.

Social media added fuel to the fire by setting the phrase ‘OK Boomer’ ablaze in 2019. The ageist catchphrase went viral, reinforcing the belief among young ones that Baby Boomers are deterrents to societal progress. [Public Policy & Aging Report 2020;30:52-55]

 

Bridging the generational divide

“With Baby Boomers swelling the ranks of the ageing population, it is imperative that society relinquishes its tendency to stereotype individuals on the grounds of age,” said the researchers. “[M]ore effort should be made to raise public awareness of ageism as a form of prejudice.”

Attempts to build intergenerational solidarity and reframe ageing should also be based on the premise that ageism is a two-way street. [Gerontologist 2022;62:589-597; J Am Geriatr Soc 2022;70:60-66; J Am Geriatr Soc 2022;70:2363-2370] “Just as younger people should be mindful not to homogenize older adults as sharing the same values and beliefs … older individuals [should be made aware of] their own cognitive biases and [its effects] on the way they treat younger people,” the researchers stressed.

Given the paucity of evidence on this issue, this should further be explored to ensure that the needs and interests of younger people are not overlooked in the global campaign against ageism. [Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021;18:3988; Nat Aging 2021;1:146]

Moreover, when tackling societal issues, the media is encouraged to bridge the generational divide instead of sensationalizing the disparities between age groups. “[Societal issues should not be] ascribed to any one age group or generation … The media [should] promote a sense of communality by emphasizing collective goals and cross-generational collaboration, [which] will ultimately promote well-being of both older and younger groups,” they said.