Intergenerational tensions, threat, and ageism. How is the threat posed by older people to younger generations structured?

Given the rapidly growing older population, intergenerational tensionsshould increase due to the threat posed by older people to younger ones.Based on Intergroup Threat Theory, our purpose was to develop a scaleof threat applied to ageism. In total, 1685 French citizens participated infour studies. Studies 1 and 2 provided support for a model of threat thatconsists of four first-order factors of threat that can group together intotwo second-order dimensions of symbolic and realistic threat. Study 3arevealed positive associations between every dimension of threat andNeuroticism, and virtually no associations with any other personality trait– indicating convergent and divergent validity of our scale. Study 3bprovided evidence for the predictive validity of the scale, showing both itsstrong and differential power to predict ageist prescriptive stereotypes.Our model of threat contributes to a better understanding ofintergenerational tensions and offers guidelines to reduce ageism.