The Effect of Status on the Evaluation of Behavior

Autor: Richard Henry Coon, Saul Feinman
Rok vydání: 1983
Předmět:
Zdroj: Research on Aging. 5:119-135
ISSN: 1552-7573
0164-0275
DOI: 10.1177/0164027583005001007
Popis: Age stratification theory's assertion that expectations and prestige vary according to age raises the question of how people respond when age-related expectations are violated. A status theory of the evaluation of behavior was delineated, proposing that evaluation of age-related behavior of adults, children, and elderly persons would be affected by the relative rankings of these role positions. Greater prestige was found to be assigned to adults and least to children, with elderly persons assigned an intermediate level. Ninety-six undergraduates provided approval ratings of either appropriate... or cross-age-role behaviors. It was found that deviation from age-role expectations resulted in a greater loss of approval for higher-status actors. Thus, adults who exhibited elderly behavior lost more approval than did elderly persons who engaged in adult behavior. There was also evidence that the impact of status on approval may have been due to the tendency for higher-status roles to be perceived as having greater social value.
Databáze: OpenAIRE