Impact of age-related stereotype threat on subjective age, awareness of age-related change, and physical performance in older adults

Age-related stereotype threat—the fear of being judged based on negative age stereotypes—can affect physical performance in older adults. This study postulated that stereotype threat influences sports motor performance and that self-perceptions of aging (SPA), specifically subjective age (SA) and awareness of age-related change (AARC), reinforce this relationship. A total of 86 adults aged 65 and over participated in the study (65–85; M = 72.10, SD = 5.94). Participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental group with stereotype threat or a control group. Physical performance was assessed using the advanced version of the sports motor test for adults. SPA (SA, AARC losses and gains) were measured by self-report. The results indicated that compared to the control situation, stereotype threat did not result in lower performance in individual sports motor domains (coordination, mobility, strength, endurance), but only in total performance. Greater AARC losses predicted lower performance in the strength domain. No moderating effect of SA was observed, but a moderating effect of AARC gains was identified in the coordination domain. Stereotype threat only led to lower performance in interactions with AARC gains and in tasks that required both cognitive and physical components. Our findings show that compared to SA, AARC appears more relevant to stereotype threat and physical performance. Finally, the impact of stereotype threat on motor performance is not universally detrimental, but rather domain-specific and only partially moderated by individual differences in SPA.