Age and Capability: The Role of Forgetting and Personal Traits

We used a person perception paradigm to investigate whether ascriptions of personal traits differ for a young versus old target being interviewed for a volunteer position that will require the performance of memory-related tasks. Perceivers (52 men and 92 women, ages 18 to 75 years) read a script in which a young or old target interviewee was either forgetful or not. Afterward, perceivers rated the target on six desirable traits (e.g., responsible) and five undesirable traits (e.g., stubborn). Compared to nonforgetful targets, forgetful targets received higher ratings on undesirable traits and lower ratings on desirable traits. With regard to age, young and old targets received similar ratings on undesirable traits, but old targets were rated higher on desirable traits. This suggests a general positive bias in favor of old targets.