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ABSTRACT
Older adults encounter ageism in various forms on a regular basis. Their experiences of age stigma can range from benevolent ones in which they receive unwanted help to more hostile ones in which they face rejection. In this chapter, we examine how older adults may cope with ageism and consider whether feeling subjectively younger might be one way for them to disiden tify from their stigmatized age group. Before exploring this proposition, we first define age stigma and review how it is manifested in terms of age stereotypes and biases toward older adults, particularly in terms of benevolent versus hostile ageism. Next, we discuss the costs of experiencing age stigma and explore individual differences in age-based rejection sensitivity as a possible moderator of older adults' susceptibility to age stigma. Finally, we examine several coping strategies older adults may use to minimize the impact of age stigma, including feeling subjectively younger. We explore whether subjective age identification may constitute a violation of prescriptive age stereotypes concerning identity and whether such violations could result in backlash. We conclude with suggested directions for future research to better understand the complex relationship between age stigma and older adults' coping responses such as subjective age identification.
INTRODUCTION
Membership in an age group comes with a prescribed set of expectations about how one ought to behave and how one ought to look. These expectations may conflict with the expectations people have for themselves. In 2008, 88-year-old World War II veteran Peter Miller was informed that he would not be bearing the flag of Britain's Royal Army Medical Corps at the Remembrance Day ceremony for the first time in 20 years. Army officials believed he had appeared frail in the previous year's ceremony, and there were concerns that he would not be able to bear the weight of the flag for the full length of the ceremony. In response, he commented, "In my experience, it's oldies like me who can take the strain at these events" (Britten, 2008).
Peter Miller's perception of his capabilities diverged from the perceptions others had of him. It is likely that he felt younger than his chronological age-a phenomenon so common that even people older than 40 years of age report feeling 20% younger than...