Feeling young at heart is good for older adults’ health, but it can cost them socially. Younger and middle-aged people rated older adults who felt younger than their age as less warm, less competent and less likeable, and were less willing to spend time with them.
The study, by Amy N. Gourley and Alison L. Chasteen of the University of Toronto’s Department of Psychology, was published online on May 14, 2026, in Psychology and Aging.
Breaking the unwritten rules of age
A younger subjective age is often linked to better health and well-being among people over 65. The researchers asked whether looking or acting younger also invites backlash, because it breaks prescriptive stereotypes: the expectation that older adults should act their age.
Such stereotypes, the authors argue, help maintain boundaries between age groups and protect younger people’s social and economic resources.
In two studies, younger and middle-aged participants evaluated older adult targets who differed in gender and in how old they felt.
Seen as a threat, not an inspiration
Older targets who felt younger than their years were seen as acting against type. That perception of counterstereotypical behaviour and demeanour explained the drop in how they were rated on warmth, competence and overall liking, and in how willing participants were to interact with them.
The authors link the result to affordance management theory. On that view, older adults who defy stereotypes may be appraised as a threat to younger people’s goals, and the backlash follows.
The finding complicates a familiar piece of advice to older people. The same youthful outlook tied to better health in later life can make them less welcome to the younger people around them.
Study Details:
- Title: Celebrate or derogate? Reactions to older adults who feel young at heart
- Authors: Amy N. Gourley, Alison L. Chasteen
- Journal: Psychology and Aging, Vol. 41, No. 5, pages 555-569
- Publication Date: May 14, 2026
- DOI: 10.1037/pag0000994