A Comparison of older and younger adults' concern about what others think of them
Date
1994
Authors
Stoering, Juliette Marie
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Abstract
We care what others think of us because the approval of others' is inherently and instrumentally valuable. That others perceive us as we perceive ourselves and evaluate us favorably enhances our sense of self-consistency and self-esteem. Likewise, the things we desire such as resources, love, wealth, and status are often contingent on others' approval of us. Although it is generally held to be true that we care what others think of us because of the value of others' approval, there is reason to expect that how much we care about what others think of us and the nature of our concerns may change as we grow older. The social theories of aging provide information on which to base hypotheses about how concern for what others think of us might change across adulthood. Activity theory leads to the prediction that older adults would care as much or more than younger adults about what others think them. Disengagement theory and selectivity theory lead to the prediction that older adults would care less than younger adults about what others think of them. Selectivity theory also allows for the more specific prediction that, although older adults would generally be less concerned about what others think of them, they would still care about what selected others think of them. The purpose of the present study was to test these hypotheses and explore the nature of older and younger adults' concerns about what others think of them. Younger and older adult females (N = 60) responded to interview questions about their levels of concern for what others think of them. Compared to older participants, the younger participants reported (a) higher mean levels of concern in general, (b) situations of concern more recently, and (c) situations of concern more frequently. These cross-sectional findings were supported by participants' retrospective reports that they had become less concerned with what others think of them since their teen years. In addition, both younger and older participants could identify (a) circumstances in which they were likely to feel more concern than usual about what others think, (b) aspects of themselves about which others' opinions particularly mattered, (c) the characteristics of others who increase their concern, and ( d) specific individuals whose opinions matter most. The nature of older and younger adults' concerns about what others might think of them were similar. The results supported the predictions based on disengagement theory and selectivity theory and contradicted the prediction based on activity theory. These findings suggest that, as one ages, there continue to be conditions under which one experiences concern for what others think, but also that overall concern for what others think decreases.