Internalization or Dissociation? Negative age stereotypes make you feel younger now but make you feel older later.

Our findings support the time-dependent nature of effects of age stereotypes on the subjective aging experience. Negative age stereotypes temporarily lead to a significantly younger subjective age, indicating dissociation from one's age group and downward comparison. In the long run, however, negative (positive) age stereotypes become internalized into the self-views of older people and are linked to a relatively older (younger) subjective age.