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The cut on his leg proved superficial, albeit bloody. But when her grandmother suggested to the owner of the grocery store not to leave the crates, she said that old people always fall and maybe they shouldn’t be walking around.

Dr. “The message stayed with him and it influenced his behavior,” Levy said. His grandmother, Dr. He seemed to question Levy’s competence by asking him to take on the work he normally does. Incident, Dr. It prompted Levy to consider how cultural values ​​and people’s own ideas about age might affect them.

We assimilate these stereotypes from an early age through disparaging media portrayals and fairy tales about evil old witches. But institutions—employers, healthcare organizations, housing policies—express a similar bias, “structural age discriminationsaid Levy. Reversing this will require sweeping changes – a “movement for epochal freedom,” he added.

But he found reason to be optimistic: Harmful ideas about age can change. Using the same subliminal techniques that measure stereotypical attitudes, his team was able to foster a sense of competence and worth among older people. Researchers in many other countries have replicated their results.

Dr. “You can’t create beliefs, but you can activate them,” Levy said, exposing people to words like “active” and “vibrant” rather than “grumpy” or “helpless” to describe older adults. .

Can a society undertake such a mission? How long can the benefits of such interventions last? Do people need regular boosters to help associate aging with experience and possibilities rather than tense jokes?

Dr. Research by Levy and other scientists continues.

Dr. “While toddlers already have negative stereotypes about age, they are not firmly established,” Levy said. “They can be beaten. We can change them.”