Societal Stereotypes Associated with Different Age Groups

Title of Activity: Societal Stereotypes Associated with Different Age groups

Designed by: Sheri R. Levy, Stony Brook University, sheri.levy@stonybrook.edu

Audience: Open

Suggested Courses: High School, Undergraduate, Graduate Courses; Any Psychology Course 

*NOTE: This activity can be completed as a classroom activity led by the Instructor or can be carried out by students as an assignment outside of the classroom as described below (with the option of discussing the results of the activity as a class).

Step 1: In this activity, you will be gathering information about societal stereotypes of different age groups.  You can gather information from your own experiences and observations in society, from the mass media, from social media, and from websites.  

You can also gather information by interviewing friends, relatives, co-workers, peers, etc. Explain that for a class project, you were asked to generate a list of societal stereotypes of different age groups. Explain further that you are asking for a list of societal stereotypes of which they are aware, but you are not asking them to provide a list of stereotypes with which they personally agree.  If needed, elaborate that the class project is about awareness of societal stereotypes, and the project is not an opinion poll.

Step 2:  Review the list of stereotypes you have gathered.  How many different age groups did you receive information about? How were the age groups defined by each of the sources you used? Do you think the stereotypes are positive, negative, or neutral?  

1. Create a table of the stereotypes you gathered.  Organize by age group (defined in whatever way emerged in your search) and perceived valence (positive, negative, neutral, unsure, some other category of your choosing).
2. How do the stereotypes compare across age groups -- are there similarities and differences in how society stereotypes one age group versus another? (1-6 sentences)
3. What was the most challenging aspect of completing this assignment? (1-4 sentences)
4. What was the most enlightening aspect of this assignment? (1-4 sentences)
5. Overall, how valuable was the assignment for you and why? (1-4 sentences)
6. Did the discussion of stereotypes about age groups also prompt discussions about stereotypes of other groups such as the intersection of ageism and other isms (e.g., ageism and racism, ageism and abelism, ageism and sexism….)? How so OR why do you think intersectionality did not come up?  (2-4 sentences)
7. Optional. Are there any thoughts you would like to share about this assignment/ experience?  For example, were you surprised by anything?

Citation for This Activity: 

Levy, S.R. (2021). Societal Stereotypes Associated with Different Age groups Activity. In S.R. Levy (Ed.). Taking Ageism Seriously. https://takingageismseriously.org/