Perceptions of Individuals Who Engage in Age Concealment

• Published in: Evolutionary behavioral sciences 2023-10, Vol.17 (4), p.407-419
• Main Authors: Childs, Michael Jeanne, Jones, Alex
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Age Differences; Attitudes; Chronological Age; Competition; Concealment; Employment; Female; Gender differences; Human; Human Sex Differences; Individual Differences; Male; Motivation; Perception; Romance; Self esteem; Women
• ISSN: 2330-2925; 2330-2933
• DOI: 10.1037/ebs0000305

Previous literature has suggested that individuals who engage in age concealment are viewed differently depending on the type of concealment used, motivations behind engagement, and, to some extent, the age of the target individual. This study aimed to expand on the literature by integrating perceiver factors such as gender, age, and individual differences in intrasexual competition, alongside the individual target factors such as concealment type and motivation for use. Using a sample of 306 participants recruited online, a linear mixed model found main effects of the target's motivation and concealment type and perceiver's gender and intrasexual competition but not perceiver age on target evaluations. We also found that women evaluated the targets most positively when age concealment was motivated by self-esteem, followed by employment, and least positively for romantic purposes, whereas men did not differ on their evaluations based on motivation. Finally, we found that the higher the female participant intrasexual competition score trait, the less positively they rated the targets. These findings suggest that the general perception toward the type and motivations behind the engagement have not changed despite the increasing access to age concealment and that perceiver trait differences also play a role in how concealers are evaluated. Public Significance Statement Cosmetic procedures that promise to make individuals look younger are increasingly accessible to the public. The current study tested how observers react to the use of these procedures by middle-aged women as this age group is the highest consumer of cosmetic treatments. We found that, in general, middle-aged women who aim to look younger are still viewed negatively by other women who have highly competitive traits, particularly when it is done to look for partners rather than employment or self-esteem reasons. The findings suggest that it is not the treatment themselves but the psychological responses to them by others that determine how individuals are viewed when they engage in appearance-altering treatments.