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Perceptions of individuals who engage in age concealment.

Michael Jeanne Childs Orcid Logo, Alex Jones Orcid Logo

Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, Volume: 17, Issue: 4, Pages: 407 - 419

Swansea University Author: Alex Jones Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1037/ebs0000305

Abstract

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 perceiv...

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Published in: Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences
ISSN: 2330-2925 2330-2933
Published: American Psychological Association (APA) 2023
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60857
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Abstract: 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.
Keywords: Intrasexual competition; motivations for age concealment; perception of 18 concealment types; female perception of age concealment
College: Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
Issue: 4
Start Page: 407
End Page: 419