Does ageism reduction intervention lower the state self-esteem of younger people?: A pre-registered study

要旨

Correcting misconceptions regarding older adults and educating people about the positive aspects of older persons can effectively reduce ageism. This study examined the replicability of previously reported findings regarding the ability of educational interventions to reduce ageism. However, enlightening younger individuals regarding some aspects of older adults’ superiority over younger adults may negatively influence the younger adults’ state self-esteem. Thus, this study examined whether an anti-ageism educational intervention contributed to a decline in the state self-esteem of younger adults. The research plan for this study was pre-registered. An online experiment was conducted with 785 Japanese participants aged 18–39 years. We employed Bayesian analysis, which allows for the positive adoption of the null hypothesis. The educational intervention successfully attenuated ageism, replicating previous findings. It had no detrimental effect on the participants’ state self-esteem. The practical significance of this intervention, which can be efficiently administered online to many participants within a short timeframe, is noteworthy.

主題