The Influence Of Meta-stereotype On The Cooperative Behavior Of The Elderly And The Role Of Vicarious Intergroup Contact

With the acceleration of the aging process,the scale of the elderly population in China is rapidly increasing,and the proportion of the elderly population is rapidly expanding.As a vulnerable group in society,although the number of elderly people is increasing,they often differ greatly from young people in many aspects such as behavior and lifestyle habits,and potential conflicts often occur.Therefore,the intergroup relationship between elderly people and young people has attracted much attention.For elderly people,cooperative behavior with young people belongs to a pro social intergroup interaction and an important way to integrate into young groups and society.It not only affects the quality of intergroup relationships between two generations,but also affects the physical and mental health of elderly people.In recent years,researchers have pointed out that stereotypes are particularly important in terms of their impact on interpersonal relationships and group behavior.Further verification is needed to determine whether different valence meta-stereotypes of the elderly will have corresponding effects on them,whether the effect of intergroup anxiety exists,and how to alleviate the negative effects brought about by meta-stereotypes of the elderly.This study explored these issues through two experiments.Study 1 activated the different valence meta-stereotypes of the elderly,used the ultimatum game paradigm to examine the cooperative behavior of the elderly and young objects,and explored the mediating role of intergroup anxiety through the intergroup anxiety questionnaire.The study used 3(groups: positive meta-stereotypes group vs.control group vs.negative meta-stereotypes group)×5(fairness level: 5:5 vs.6:4 vs.7:3vs.8:2 vs.9:1),in which grouping conditions are inter subject variables,fairness level is intra subject variable,and acceptance rate of ultimatum game is dependent variable.The results showed that positive meta-stereotypes can increase elderly cooperative behavior by reducing intergroup anxiety,while negative meta-stereotypes can reduce elderly cooperative behavior by increasing intergroup anxiety.Intergroup anxiety plays a complete mediating role,and the direct effect of meta stereotypes on cooperative behavior is not significant.Study 2 explored the mitigating effect of alternative intergroup contact on the negative effects of meta-stereotypes.The research tool was the same as Study 1,and alternative intergroup contact materials were added,including text materials and image materials.Study adopted 2(group: vicarious intergroup contact group vs.control group)×5(fairness level: 5:5 vs.6:4 vs.7:3 vs.8:2 vs.9:1),in which group is the inter subject variable,fairness level is the intra subject variable,and the acceptance rate of ultimatum game is the dependent variable.The results showed that under the condition of activation of negative meta-stereotypes,the intergroup anxiety of participants in the vicarious intergroup contact group was significantly lower than that of the control group,and cooperative behavior was significantly higher than that of the control group.The negative effect of negative meta-stereotypes on cooperative behavior weakened with the decrease of intergroup anxiety.Conclusion: The effect of the old people’s meta-stereotype follows the principle of feedback,and the intergroup anxiety plays a complete intermediary role between the different valence of the meta-stereotype and the old people’s cooperative behavior.Vicarious intergroup contact can effectively alleviate the negative effects of negative meta-stereotypes on intergroup anxiety and cooperative behavior of the elderly.