The interaction between aging and death anxieties predicts ageism Ehud Bodner a, ⁎, Amit Shrira b , Yoav S. Bergman b , Sara Cohen-Fridel c , Ephraim S. Grossman b a Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences and the Department of Music, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel b Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel c The School of Education, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel abstract article info Article history: Received 21 December 2014 Received in revised form 14 May 2015 Accepted 17 May 2015 Available online xxxx Keywords: Ageism Aging anxiety Death anxiety Older adults Stereotypes Stigma While aging anxiety is associated with the threat of deterioration that leads to death, death anxiety is related to the threat of non-existence and to fears from an unknown afterlife, and both anxieties can lead to ageism. The current study examined the unexplored relationship between these two existential anxieties and ageism. Mea- sures of aging and death anxieties, ageism (in the form of ageist attitudes), and various measures of physical health were collected from 1073 older adults at the age range of 50–86. When death anxiety was low, aging anx- iety was positively related to ageism, but when aging anxiety was low, death anxiety was positively related to ageism. The interaction between both anxieties and ageism remained significant after controlling for a myriad of background characteristics and physical health measures. These findings, which point at the distinctive and complementary roles that both anxieties have in connecting between one another and ageist attitudes, are discussed in light of theories on ageism. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The scientific examination of negative attitudes toward old age has mainly focused on several possible paths. Primarily, such attitudes may be measured as stereotypes and prejudice against older adults due to their advanced age, a phenomenon which is defined as ageism (Butler, 2009). However, on an intra-personal level, these attitudes may be manifested through the individual's own anxieties about grow- ing old, which may be triggered by the aging process (Yan, Silverstein, & Wilber, 2011), or perhaps by anxieties regarding the ultimate result of the aging process, namely, death anxiety (Benton, Christopher, & Walter, 2007). While ageism is concerned with the perception of older adults as a group, the innate qualities of both aging and death anxieties are closely associated each with the other (Benton et al., 2007). Howev- er, the two are also differentiated, as aging anxiety concerns fears regarding the continual process of aging, rather than with the termina- tion of this process. To the best of our knowledge, the connections be- tween the three concepts have not been explored, and therefore, the current study examines the relationships between aging anxiety, death anxiety and ageism among older adults. 1.1. Ageism While most studies which focus on ageism examine this effect among younger cohorts, ageism was also found among older adults (see Bodner, Bergman, & Cohen-Fridel, 2012), and in such cases, is termed “self-ageism”. This phenomenon may be addressed by two opposing accounts. According to the comparison hypothesis (e.g., Robinson-Whelen & Kiecolt-Glaser, 1997), self-ageism can be en- hancing, because it may activate self-enhancing downward compari- sons. For example, healthy older adults may enhance their self-esteem by comparing themselves with a stereotype of a frail person at the same age. In contrast, the contamination hypothesis asserts that self- ageism may be detrimental to one's self-image, because people tend to increasingly incorporate negative views about age into their self- views (Rothermund & Brandstadter, 2003), and when they grow old, these views have adverse implications on the way they age (e.g., Levy, 2009). During the last 15 years, the contamination hypothesis received more empirical support than the comparison hypothesis, as several studies have shown that older individuals, who harbor negative views of aging, report lower psychological well-being and have more physical problems such as cardiovascular events, heightened cardiovascular re- sponses, and elevated skin conductance (e.g., Levy, 2009). Based on such findings, the theory of stereotype embodiment suggested that neg- ative attitudes toward the aging process are internalized across the life span, and upon gaining salience from self-relevance, they operate un- consciously through multiple pathways on health practices, on the Personality and Individual Differences 86 (2015) 15–19 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences and the Department of Music, Faculty of Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel. Tel.: +972 3 5318405. E-mail address: ehud.bodner@biu.ac.il (E. Bodner). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.05.022 0191-8869/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Personality and Individual Differences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/paid