BASIC AND APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, 22(3), 259-261
Copyright © 2000, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Integrating Social Psychology and Aging Research:
Toward a Social-Developmental Theory of Behavior
Leslie A. Zebrowitz
Department of Psychology
Brandeis University
Joann M. Montepare
Department of Psychology
Emerson College
We consider 2 questions in this commentary. One is the extent to which the understanding of aging
can be advanced by the application of social psychological theories. The second is the extent to
which social-psychological theories can be enriched by considering issues in aging. We argue that
the focus on situational causes ofbehavior in social psychological theories provides a vital balance to
accounts of aging that have emphasized internal causes, and that the social psychological focus on
process provides an important addition to more descriptive emphases. We also argue that applying
social-psychological theories to issues in aging will strengthen their predictive power by necessitating greater attention to descriptive content as well as by revealing new moderator variables and domains of inquiry. Finally, we offer several methodological suggestions for future research. Ultimately, integrating social psychology and aging research will build social-developmental theories
that are more powerful than either social or developmental theories alone.
The integration of basic social-psychological research with
issues in aging and life-span development holds great promise for enriching hoth fields of inquiry. Not only can research
and theory in social psychology provide us with valuable insights about aging, but also addressing questions raised by issues in aging can deepen the explanatory power of basic social psychological theories. Although we limit our discussion
to those domains addressed by the articles in this special issue, we hope that our commentary inspires investigators with
interests in other domains to pursue the advantages of such an
integrative effort. We also hope that our brief discussion of
methodological issues helps investigators to make the most
of their integrative research.
HOW THE STUDY OF AGING CAN BE
ENRICHED BY SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
THEORIES
Many models of adult development view the behavior of aging adults as reflecting internal traits, motivations, and challenges. Erikson (1959), for example, described the adult
years as a time during which people face the conflict of
Requests for reprints should be sent to Leslie A. Zebrowitz, Department
of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02254. E-mail:
zebrowitz@brandeis.edu
generativity versus stagnation. Moreover, it has been suggested that one way aging adults resolve this conflict is by
participating in volunteer activities as they move beyond
work and family roles. The findings reported by Warburton
and Terry (this issue) challenge the notion that volunteerism
is an emergent age-related behavior. Exploring the extent to
which the components of a revised theory of planned behavior predict the intentions to volunteer among older adults,
these researchers show that the underlying process that predicts volunteer decision making in older adults is similar to
that which predicts the behavior of younger adults. Although
the basic process of volunteerism does not vary with age, research comparing the weighting of the components of this
process across the life span could reveal age differences. Indeed, Omoto, Snyder, and Martino (this issue) found interesting age differences in the predictive power of the felt obligation to volunteer.
The research by Martin, Leary, and Rejeski (this issue) also
challenges the assumption that the behavior of older adults is
guided by internal personal factors. Specifically, tlieir social-psychological approach suggests that certain age-related
behaviors are driven by strong social forces because older
adults make use ofa wide range of self-presentation strategies to
enhance their social imagejust as younger adults do. What may
differ is a function of age is not the basic process of
self-presentation, but rather the specific aims and strategies that
are utilized due to the special circumstances brought about by
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ZEBROWITZ AND MONTEPARE
aging. In particular, these researchers suggest that the
self-presentation strategies utilized by older adults derive from
appearance- and health-related changes that threaten social perceptions of their physical, social, and psychological competence. Research comparing the specific self-presentation aims
and strategies of individuals across the life span could provide
additional insights into age differences.
Considerable research in the aging field has explored the
extent to which representations ofthe self change or remain
the same across the life span, and has demonstrated both continuity and change in circumscribed self-constructs such as the
"Big Five" personality traits, self-esteem, and subjective
well-being. Frazier, Hooker, Johnson, and Kaus (this issue)
explored age-related changes in the more dynamic
self-construct of possible selves described in social-psychological theory. The dynamic and multidimensional nature of hoped for and feared selves revealed in this
research may account for previous findings ofboth continuity
and change across the life span. Moreover, the study of feared
and hoped for selves shows that there can be variation across
age in the salient dimensions ofthe self-concept, such as health
and independence, not just in people's self-views on those dimensions. Research comparing people's possible selves
across the entire life span would provide additional insights
into age differences in the salience of various dimensions.
The aging literature is replete with descriptions of stereotypes of elderly adults. Not surprisingly, many social images
ofthe aged cast them in a negative light, although recent empirical evidence suggests that elderly stereotypes also include positive views. Although this research has been
instructive regarding the multidimensional content of age
stereotypes, it has yet to provide a satisfying explanation of
the processes that guide when stereotypes will be applied and
by whom. Drawing on contemporary social-psychological
models of person perception, Duval, Ruscher, Welsh, and
Catanese (this issue) suggested that interpersonal communications can bolster or undercut the automatic processing of
information about elderly adults that leads to stereotypic
evaluations. Chasteen (this issue) further showed that individuals' personal attitudes toward aging and their perceptions ofthe typicality of elderly adults influence stereotypic
processing. Further research on age stereotypes in the context of social-psychological models should help to identify
specific processing mechanisms that can be used to combat
negative images.
HOW SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY THEORIES
CAN BE ENRICHED BY CONSIDERING
AGE
Social-psychological theories tend to focus on general, abstract processes, often remaining mute when it comes to identifying the specific, concrete contents ofbehavior. Applying
these theories to issues in aging and life-span development necessitates greater attention to meaningful content, which
serves to strengthen their predictive power. For example, social-psychological writings on self-presentation have focused
on the general aims and consequences of various
self-presentation strategies like self-promotion, supplication,
and ingratiation. Raising the question of age-related changes
makes clear the need for self-presentation theories to specify
who will adopt what strategies in what situation. The data provided by Martin et al. (this issue) add some meaty content to
the bare bones of self-presentation processes by specifying
older adults' self-presentational concerns and impression
management strategies in the domains of appearance and
health. Extending this research across the life span would further strengthen self-presentation theories by providing needed
content that can enrich their predictive power at all ages.
The attention to content that emerges when social-psychological theories are applied to issues in aging can
also strengthen self-concept theories. For example, the emergence of health-related concerns in the content of older
adults' possible selves provides clues to the origins of possible selves that can enrich the general theoretical model
(Frazier et al., this issue). Extending this research across the
life span would reveal how possible selves unfold or change
over time, something that has been largely ignored by social-psychological investigations ofthe possibilities that are
perceived either at one future time or in the present.
Applying social-psychological theories to issues in aging can also imcover new moderator variables that, like the
specification of content, will strengthen their predictive
power. For example, the finding that reminiscence and current life satisfaction can moderate the outcome of upward
and downward social comparisons highlights the need to
refine social comparison theory so that it more clearly specifies conditions under which particular comparisons will
have positive or negative effects (Reis-Bergan, Gibbons,
Gerrard, & Ybema, this issue). Moreover, the effects of
reminiscence and life satisfaction in this research may refiect a more general phenomena whereby dovraward comparisons have deleterious effects on people of any age if the
comparison evokes a feared self, whereas upward comparisons have positive effects if the comparison evokes a possible self As such, it would be interesting to expand this
research to examine the effect on young adults of social
comparisons with older adults.
Research on elderly stereotypes has important implications
for social-psychological theories of stereotyping because this
research makes clear that the theories must be able to accoxmt
for negative attitudes toward a group that one will someday
join. Similarly, theories on coping with the stigma of membership in a stereotyped group can be informed by considering the
implications of moving from a nonstigmatized status to an
age-stigmatized one (cf Zebrowitz & Montepare, 2000).
Chasteen's results suggest that what may change with age are
perceptions ofthe typicality of older adults with negative attributes, which can reduce negative stereotyping ofthe elderly
by older adults.
SOCIAL-DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY
Finally, attention to age in social-psychological research
can reveal new domains of inquiry. The research in this issue
on filial piety provides one example (Liu, Ng, Weatherall, &
Loong, this issue). Although social psychologists have devoted considerable attention to interpersonal relationships,
particularly friendships and romantic relationships, they
have largely ignored adult family relationships. Incorporating this domain would strengthen theories of interpersonal
relations. For example, can attachment theory, used to predict variations in romantic relationships, also explain variations in filial piety (cf Berscheid & Reis, 1998; Hazan &
Shaver, 1987)? The research in this issue on persuasive communications provides another example of questions central
to social psychological theory uncovered in research on aging (Duval et al., this issue). Although communicator credibility is integral to theories of attitude change, little attention
has been paid to the effects of a communicator's age. Duval
et al.'s finding that communications by older adults have
more influence on age stereotypes raises the interesting question of whether this is a general phenomenon or specific to
particular communications. Considerable social psychology
research has shown that expertise and trustworthiness both
increase communicator credibility. Were older communicators more persuasive in the Duval et al. study because they
were perceived as more expert or less biased on the particular
topic or are they generally more credible communicators,
consistent with the greater wisdom attributed to older adults?
METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Questions regarding the proper interpretation of Duval et al.'s
interesting findings highlight an important methodological issue in research on aging, namely what exactly is the variable of
age? Discovering age effects, be it the age of those whose behavior is the focus of interest or the age of those who influence
that behavior, will not substantially advance psychological theories unless we have some understanding of what causes those
differences. As hfe-span developmental theorists have argued,
age is a proxy for a host of factors refiecting personal experience, social position, educational level, historical circumstance, and biological condition (Birren & Cunningham, 1985).
Moreover, Von Dras and Blumenthal (this issue) make clear
that even biological age differences reflect the interplay of so. cial-environmental factors, psychological factors, as well as genetic predispositions. Indeed, Ickes and Dugosh's (this issue)
intersubjective perspective suggests that the social context in
which people operate may account for age-related changes attributed to biology. Ascertaining the meaning of age in research
on social psychology and aging is an essential task.
A second methodological issue concerns what particular
age groups are selected for comparison. Typically, and likely
the result of convenience, young adult college students are
261
compared with a broad range of adults over the age of 65. Although such comparisons can be informative, social psychologists interested in developmental phenomena should consider
what the study ofmiddle-aged groups and better differentiated
older aged groups might reveal. Grouping 55-year-olds with
85-year-olds will surely obscure interesting age effects, and
for many research questions, comparisons across the entire
life span will provide maximal insight. Studying only one age
group can teach us something about other variables, but it will
not tell us anything about age differences.
A third methodological decision involves research design.
A cross-sectional design leaves open the possibility that apparent age differences actually reflect cohort or generational
effects. As such, any differences in the behavior of 40- and
80-year-olds, for example, may not be due to differences in
age per se. A longitudinal design, on the other hand, can implicate age as the cause of those differences so long as various confounding variables that plague any repeated measures
design are ruled out. More complex, mixed designs can help
to eliminate various rival explanations, pinpointing age as
the cause (cf Schaie, 1965). However, even with such confounds discounted, the question still remains what it is about
changes in age that produce changes in behavior.
CONCLUSION
As illustrated by the articles in this volimie, the interplay of
social psychology and age provides a fertile and challenging
ground for empirical investigation and theory building. For
maximal reward, the interplay must be bidirectional.
Whereas existent social psychology theories can provide
useful models for explaining age effects, the application of
these theories to issues of aging will inform and broaden social-psychological theories. Ultimately such an endeavor
will build social-developmental theories that are more powerful than current social or developmental theories alone.
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