Self‐Application of Aging Stereotypes as an Independent Predictor of Loneliness in Community‐Dwelling Older Adults: A Cross‐Sectional Study

Abstract

AIM: Loneliness is common in later life and may be shaped by aging stereotypes. Drawing on Stereotype Embodiment Theory, this study examined whether the components of aging-stereotype internalization predict loneliness independently of sociodemographic factors and whether effects differ by dimension. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 485 community-dwelling adults aged 65 or older in Turkey completed the Elderly Internalized Stigma Scale (EISS), indexing awareness, agreement, and self-application, and the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA-S). Spearman's correlations and multiple linear regression were used, with separate models for total, emotional, and social loneliness. RESULTS: Self-application showed the strongest bivariate association with loneliness (ρ = 0.25, p < 0.001), whereas agreement was unrelated. It was independently associated with total loneliness (β = 0.23) and both dimensions (β = 0.18 emotional, β = 0.21 social; all p < 0.001), whereas awareness was not. Agreement showed a negative coefficient consistent with suppression. Being unmarried was the strongest correlate of emotional loneliness (β = 0.55) but was unrelated to social loneliness (β = 0.04), for which self-application had the largest standardized coefficient among the included predictors. Separating the components explained more variance than the composite score. CONCLUSION: Loneliness was associated with applying aging stereotypes to oneself rather than with awareness or general agreement, and this held for both dimensions. Being married was associated with lower emotional loneliness but not with social loneliness. Findings for social loneliness should be interpreted cautiously given the low internal consistency of that subscale. Interventions targeting self-directed stereotypes merit evaluation.

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