Becca Levy
Encyclopedia
Becca R. Levy is an associate professor of epidemiology
and social psychology
at Yale University
. She is a leading researcher in the fields of social gerontology
and psychology of aging. She has conducted foundational research on how self-stereotypes operate and how older individuals are influenced by and can influence their societies.
. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology from Harvard University
. She trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School in the Division on aging and Department of Social Medicine. Afterward she started teaching as an assistant professor at Yale School of Public Health
.
Levy’s primary research interests lie in examining the psycho-social influences of aging on individual health and well-being. In particular, her work has focused on elucidating the mechanisms by which self perceptions of aging and age stereotypes impact both cognitive and physical health. In a seminal series of studies, Levy for the first time established causal links between age stereotypes held by individuals and a number of outcomes previously unknown to be affected by such stereotypes including: memory, cardiac reactivity to stress, and even longevity. Subsequently, this body of research has come to form the basis for Levy’s Stereotype Embodiment Theory (SET)
.
Since the beginning of her career, Levy has contributed over 70 articles and chapters to leading psychological, gerontological, and medical journals and books. As an expert in the field of health and aging, her research has been featured on the front page of the New York Times; and she was invited by the U.S. Senate to give testimony before the Special Committee on Aging regarding the harmful impact of ageism
in popular media and marketing.
Epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study of health-event, health-characteristic, or health-determinant patterns in a population. It is the cornerstone method of public health research, and helps inform policy decisions and evidence-based medicine by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive...
and social psychology
Social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...
at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. She is a leading researcher in the fields of social gerontology
Gerontology
Gerontology is the study of the social, psychological and biological aspects of aging...
and psychology of aging. She has conducted foundational research on how self-stereotypes operate and how older individuals are influenced by and can influence their societies.
Career
Levy was born in Atlanta, GA. She studied psychology and Near Eastern studies at the University of MichiganUniversity of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. She trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School in the Division on aging and Department of Social Medicine. Afterward she started teaching as an assistant professor at Yale School of Public Health
Yale School of Public Health
The Yale School of Public Health was founded in 1915 by Charles-Edward Amory Winslow and is one of the oldest public health masters programs in the United States...
.
Levy’s primary research interests lie in examining the psycho-social influences of aging on individual health and well-being. In particular, her work has focused on elucidating the mechanisms by which self perceptions of aging and age stereotypes impact both cognitive and physical health. In a seminal series of studies, Levy for the first time established causal links between age stereotypes held by individuals and a number of outcomes previously unknown to be affected by such stereotypes including: memory, cardiac reactivity to stress, and even longevity. Subsequently, this body of research has come to form the basis for Levy’s Stereotype Embodiment Theory (SET)
Stereotype embodiment theory
Stereotype Embodiment Theory is a theoretical model first posited by Psychologist Becca Levy to explain the process by which age stereotypes influence the health of older adults....
.
Since the beginning of her career, Levy has contributed over 70 articles and chapters to leading psychological, gerontological, and medical journals and books. As an expert in the field of health and aging, her research has been featured on the front page of the New York Times; and she was invited by the U.S. Senate to give testimony before the Special Committee on Aging regarding the harmful impact of ageism
Ageism
Ageism, also called age discrimination is stereotyping of and discrimination against individuals or groups because of their age. It is a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify age based prejudice, discrimination, and subordination...
in popular media and marketing.
Awards
- Donaghue Investigator Award (Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation)
- Margret M. Baltes Award for Outstanding Early Career Achievement in Social and Behavioral Gerontology (Margret M. and Paul Baltes Foundation and the Gerontological Society of America)
- Springer Award for Early Career Achievement in Research on Adult Development and Aging (American Psychological Association)
- Brookdale National Fellowship for Leadership in Aging (Brookdale Foundation)
- International Mensa Foundation New Investigator Award for Excellence in Research
- Gordon W. Allport Award (Harvard University)
Selected publications
- Levy, B. R. (2009). Stereotype embodiment: A Psychosocial Approach to Aging. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18, 332-336.
- Levy, B. R. & Leifheit-Limson, E. (2009). The stereotype-matching effect: Greater influence on functioning when age stereotypes correspond to outcomes. Psychology and Aging. 24, 230-233.
- Levy, B. R., Zonderman, A., Slade, M. D., Ferrucci, L. (2009). Negative age stereotypes held earlier in life predict cardiovascular events in later life. Psychological Science. 2009, 20: 296-8.
- Levy, B. R., Ashman, O., & Slade, M. D. (2009). Age attributions and aging health: Contrast between the United States and Japan. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences.
- Levy, B., Kosteas, J., Slade, M., & Myers, L. Exclusion of elderly persons from health-risk-behavior clinical trials. Preventive Medicine, 2006, 43: 80-85.
- Levy, B. R. (2003). Mind matters: Cognitive and physical effects of aging self-stereotypes. (New Directions in Aging Research.) Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 58, 203-211.
- Levy, B. R., Slade, M., & Kasl, S. (2002). Longitudinal benefit of positive self-perceptions of aging on functioning health. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Science, 57, 409-417.
- Levy, B. R., Slade, M., Kunkel, S., & Kasl, S. (2002). Longevity increased by positive self-perceptions of aging. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 261-270.
- Levy, B., Hausdorff, J., Hencke, R., & Wei, J. (2000). Reducing cardiovascular stress with positive self-stereotypes of aging. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 55, 1-9.
- Levy, B. (1996). Improving memory in old age by implicit self-stereotyping. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 1092-1107.
- Levy, B., & Langer, E. (1994). Aging free from negative stereotypes: Successful memory among the American Deaf and in China. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 935-943.