Positive age stereotypes were found to reduce negative self-perceptions of aging and increase physical functioning among older individuals, according to a Yale study. These benefits may last weeks.
Studies of behavioral priming typically demonstrate that the influence of hidden stimuli on delayed decisions dissipates within 1 second.
Experiment 1 demonstrated subliminal face-occupation pairs could have long-lasting subliminal influences on conscious income decisions almost half an hour later – providing compelling evidence of subliminal influence over intentional behaviors such as decision-making.
Strengthens Positive Age Stereotypes
Levy and her colleagues conducted field experiments that demonstrated that flashing positive words about aging on a computer screen at too fast of a rate for people 61 and older to read improved their perceptions of aging and physical function compared with regular exercise programs. Levy does not predict practical applications for her research but acknowledges subliminal messages have long been employed both beneficially and detrimentally for motivation, sleep aiding purposes or selling products.
Young adults living in youth-centric cultures worldwide are bombarded with negative images and stereotypes of aging from early adulthood on. This exposure can have serious psychological ramifications, including ageing anxiety that becomes worse over time and negatively impact mental and physical health later on in life. Research demonstrates that those who identify with such stereotypes report higher subjective ages than their chronological ages – and are therefore more likely to die earlier than those who don’t identify.
Previous studies have demonstrated that associating with positive stereotypes about aging can positively influence self-perceptions and physical function, leading to improvements in both areas. This process, known as stereotype extinguishment (SET), can significantly enhance both health and self-perceptions among older adults.
Single-session studies of SET have generally demonstrated its benefits only among older individuals for whom age stereotypes are self relevant, so this research investigated for the first time whether multiple sessions could improve age stereotypes, perceptions of aging and physical function over time.
Researchers conducted their experiment by recruiting 100 participants aged 61 or older to sit in front of computers for four one-week intervals during four separate trials. Participants were randomly divided into one of four groups, receiving either an implicit-positive-age-stereotype intervention, explicit positive age stereotype intervention, combined implicit/explicit treatment or simply scrambled letters on the screen as control conditions. The implicit-positive-age-stereotype treatment consisted of five blocks presenting 20 words to participants; with the first word orienting them to old age and 19 other randomized ones presented thereafter; two repeated ones were presented again to avoid participant familiarity and to ensure longevity of change. As expected, multiple sessions of this intervention resulted in improvements to age stereotypes, self-perceptions and physical function over time that was maintained over time.
Strengthens Self-Perceptions of Aging
Attaining negative age stereotypes non-consciously from our culture has been linked with various adverse outcomes, including worse physical function. They are particularly harmful for older individuals who internalize them; self-deprecating beliefs about themselves as they age can result in low confidence and physical functioning impairment. Psychological Science published an interesting study testing whether subliminal reinforcement of positive age stereotypes would improve outcomes while counteracting any harmful ones that they encounter.
Participants were instructed to make decisions about the relative values of a pair of faces and occupations displayed at too fast a speed to be noticed by conscious thought on a computer screen, flashed too rapidly for conscious awareness to pick up consciously. They were informed that their decision would be recorded; however they weren’t permitted to see its outcome until after making it. Interestingly, subjects exposed to negative age stereotypes made significantly less money on average than subjects in the control group, with this difference remaining for three weeks post viewing the subliminal material whereas these subjects also experienced improvements in physical balance and other measures of physical functioning not seen among these subjects in either group.
Positive shifts in subjects’ perceptions of their own aging are consistent with Levy’s stereotype embodiment theory (SET), which states that people become aware of their growing older through environmental cues that reinforce this fact and form part of their internalized representations of themselves as old. The results were somewhat unexpected; previous single-session implicit positive age stereotype interventions found no effect on self-perceptions of aging (Levy 2009).
The new study employed multiple sessions of subliminal messaging to assess whether repeated exposure might have an accumulative impact, or whether their initial impression fades after some time. This was essential, since their goal was to get these implicit, positive messages to remain and strengthen over time rather than simply influence behavior in an instant.
Improves Physical Function
Studies published in October 2014 demonstrate how your eyes may convey subconscious cues to one another and influence physical function. Researchers discovered that GABA (B) receptors responded differently when participants were shown neutral images; this demonstrated how your brain can interpret unspoken visual signals to convey social messages.
Researchers discovered in another similar study that subliminal cues can boost athletic performance. To create this subliminal stimulus, authors flashed words and faces on a screen for less than 0.02 seconds, but these remained undetectable to conscious minds of subjects receiving them. It marked the first time non-conscious visual stimuli could impact exercise performance – subjects were able to complete endurance tests longer compared with those not receiving subliminal stimuli.
Scientists are exploring how aging occurs and developing technologies that reverse it. A recent clinical trial proved this fact with nine healthy volunteers losing an average of 2.5 years from their biological ages with growth hormone and two common drugs being used. This could indicate it might be possible to turn back the clock on our biological ageing process – although more research needs to be conducted before this technique can work on cells and higher-order organisms too.
Yale University conducted a study involving elderly individuals residing at homes or senior living facilities who were given computers and asked to participate in an easy game where subliminal messages like “spry,” “wise” and “sage” flashed across their screens subliminally. Over several weeks, those exposed to positive subliminal messages experienced more positive stereotypes and perceptions about aging; physical function also significantly improved in comparison with controls given different forms of intervention.
Subliminal messaging has long been utilized both beneficially and harmfully; this study marks the first time scientists examined its impact on physical function among older individuals. Therefore, its results are truly groundbreaking and exciting.
Strengthens Self-Esteem
Subliminal messaging is an incredibly effective strategy that is increasingly being employed both for good and ill purposes. It relies on visual cues displayed for mere fractions of seconds that remain below conscious awareness threshold. James Vicary conducted an experiment in 1957 that is often cited as evidence that subliminal advertising can increase sales significantly – such as Coca-Cola (18%) and popcorn sales (57%), respectively. Although Vicary’s results were dubious and ultimately prohibited by the Federal Communications Commission in 1974, recent studies have demonstrated their significance to our physical function and inner strength.
Researchers of a 2014 Frontiers in Human Neuroscience study revealed that endurance athletes exposed to positive subliminal cues during their workout were able to exercise longer with reduced perceived effort than those exposed to negative cues. Positive subliminal cues were displayed for less than 0.02 seconds on digital screens while being obscured by other visual stimuli so as to remain unrecognizable by subjects.
Becca Levy of Virginia and Max Planck Institute researchers has conducted another study which revealed that an infant’s eyes can convey subliminal messages through subconscious cues transmitted through their scleras, with their brain processing them similarly as though they were explicitly presented to it.
Levy’s previous research demonstrated how negative age stereotypes negatively impacted older individuals’ physical functioning, so she wanted to test whether subliminal activation of positive stereotypes could improve these outcomes. She recruited 100 participants aged 61-99 for a computer game where positive aging stereotypes were subliminally flashed at too fast a speed for participants to consciously perceive them; when compared with control subjects, those receiving the positive subliminal messaging experienced improved balance, walking ability, sitting down/standing up from chairs as well as sitting down/standing up from chairs compared with control subjects – improvements which continued three weeks post final intervention session session!
