Age Differences in the Bases for Social Judgments: Tests of a Social Expertise Perspective

Abstract

Research indicates that increasing age is associated with greater use of trait-diagnostic behavioral information in making social judgments. These effects may reflect an aging-related increase in social expertise, indicative of more powerful and accessible knowledge structures. The current work is an attempt to provide further evidence in support of the social expertise view and a test of an alternative hypothesis. Results of this work indicate that age differences in the use of trait-diagnostic information were moderated by factors thought to affect the accessibility of relevant knowledge structures.

Acknowledgments

This research was conducted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Christina M. Leclerc's Master of Science degree.

The authors would like to thank Elizabeth Hodges for her assistance in conducting this research. Support for this research was provided by grant AG05552 from the National Institute on Aging.

Notes

Note. Letter-number sequencing scores could range from 0 to 21. Pattern/letter comparison scores are z scores. Vocabulary scores could range from 0 to 36. SF-36 scores are T scores.

¹Description size was not included as a variable because participants were unaware while reading the first two behaviors whether or not additional information would follow.

^a Mean rating for intelligence minus mean rating for honesty.

²Note that 10 of the 32 younger adults in this condition exhibited negative diagnosticity effects, further underscoring the inconsistency in use of trait-diagnostic information in this age group.

³When these analyses were conducted using theory scores derived from the four increment-related items, these effects were even stronger. This is somewhat curious given the strong correlation (.65) between scores on the Entity and Increment items, which suggests responses are tapping into the same construct.