Since 2022, students in the SMILEs Lab have been examining how the labels we use for adults ages 65+ shape our perceptions of them and contribute to ageist stereotypes. Participants read a brief story in which we varied six different terms—old, Boomer, senior, elderly, older adult, and a control description (‘in their 70s’)—used to describe a male or female target. To date, more than 1,217 people have participated in the study.

Research Assistant Ava Bjelka and Dr. Vale presented the findings at the 2024 Gerontological Society of America. You can learn more about the project by watching this video.

We are currently writing up our results and planning for a follow up study.

Currently, there are no validated psychological measures that assess experiences of ageism across the lifespan or capture the multidimensional nature of ageism.

To address this gap, the SMILEs Lab developed and tested an initial pool of 79 survey items designed to measure hostile, positive, and benevolent forms of ageism. We are now in the process of analyzing the data, and planning a second study. Our preliminary analyses reveal that we have ~15 hostile, 15 positive, and 15 benevolent items to use to measure ageism.

Ageism poses significant health risks, economic costs, and broader societal challenges. Despite its far-reaching impact, most research has focused narrowly on the negative attitudes and stereotypes directed toward older adults. Our goal is to expand this perspective by shifting attention from static beliefs to the dynamic, day-to-day experiences of ageism as they unfold in real life.

This project uses a daily diary design, in which participants report their age-based experiences each day for two weeks—much like writing short daily journal entries. This approach allows us to capture ageism as it actually happens and examine, in real time, how these experiences relate to well-being and other meaningful outcomes. It also helps us understand how frequently age-based experiences occur in everyday life across different ages.

We are currently recruiting participants for this project. If you are interested, please click this link

It is becoming more common to see employees sharing their pronouns in email signatures, video conferences, nametags, and websites, and it is often thought that disclosing pronouns makes a more inclusive workplace for non-cisgender people (e.g., transgender or non-binary people). However, non-cisgender people and women still report discrimination in the workplace. Thus, we are curious to see how disclosure of pronouns might affect applicants of different genders.

This study is being conducted with Dr. Mary Ignagni at Adelphi University. We are about to begin recruitment for this study.

Dr. Vale developed the Daily Experiences of Stress, Social Relationships, and Well-Being Study as part of his dissertation.

From November 2020 to April 2021, he conducted a daily diary study examining experiences of minority stress in a lifespan sample of sexual minorities (ages 18–90), including lesbians, gay men, bisexual, and pansexual individuals.

Minority stress refers to the unique challenges that members of minority groups face, which are not typically experienced by majority groups, such as microaggressions, internalized stigma, and the need to come out.

In a daily diary study, participants report on their experiences every day over a set period. Similarly, to completing diary entries that overview your day. Participants completed daily surveys for three weeks. In total, 112 participants (ages 19–79) completed 1,923 individual daily surveys.

In addition, 243 participants (ages 18–90) completed a single survey. Including this larger sample allowed the team to examine additional research questions beyond the daily diary data.

The primary goal of Dr. Vale’s dissertation was to examine age differences in minority stress and explore why older cohorts report experiencing less stress. These findings are currently under review for publication.

Beyond the dissertation’s core research questions, Dr. Vale collected data on additional topics, including post-traumatic growth, loneliness, sexual satisfaction, and self-compassion. He has also collaborated with students to explore these areas further. Most recently, he published findings on the correlates of sexual satisfaction and dissatisfaction and is actively working on disseminating several related projects.