The following is an excerpt of the intervention methodology. For more information, please see the full text of the article on the publisher's website or through your institution's library.

Procedure [...]

Participants in all conditions read the same 3 articles (created for the study) about careers in healthcare, psychology, and social work in general, which was the only information provided to participants in condition 4 (control). For example, “Social workers can also help clients with physical and mental health issues and connect them with the appropriate services or advocate for clients” and “In psychology, the areas of specialization and job tasks vary widely, for example … ”. Additional information provided to experimental condition 1 (aging education) participants included accurate, positive information with citations about aging and older adults that challenged stereotypes including statements such as “According to the National Institute of Mental Health, adults over 50 years of age have significantly lower rates of depression than 18–25 year olds, and 26–49 year olds in the U.S”, “The Administration on Aging estimates that around 8.1 million adults over age 65 (18.8% of the workforce) were currently working and evidence suggests that they are valuable workers”, and “Research indicates that perceptions and stereotypes associated with this group of individuals are often exaggerated and inaccurate, which can affect treatment in health care settings.” Additional information provided to condition 2 (gerontology career education) participants included accurate, positive information about careers working with older adults that challenged stereotypes including statements such as “Health care professionals specializing in gerontology also report that their jobs are rewarding, challenging, and interesting according to research”, “A geropsychologist interviewed by the American Psychological Association mentioned aspects that they like about their job such as the diversity in what you get to do on a daily basis, and mentioned that the work is intellectually stimulating and meaningful.” and “geriatric social workers are trained to know the signs of elder abuse and advocate for their clients to connect them with needed services, which many social workers say is a rewarding part of the job, and makes these social workers feels like they’re really helping to better the lives of older adults.” Participants in condition 3 (combined) read the extra information from both conditions 1 (aging education) and 2 (gerontology career education). Then, participants completed the measures described below as the immediate post-test.

After 1–2 weeks [...], participants were contacted via e-mail and given another link to complete Time 2 (delayed post-test), which included the same measures as Time 1. Participants received a full debriefing following Time 2. [...]

Measures

Fraboni scale of ageism
Participants rated 22 items (5 items reverse scored) addressing their attitudes toward older adults on a scale of 1(strongly disagree) to 7(strongly agree) [...]. Scores were coded so that higher scores indicated greater endorsement of ageism.

Image of aging scale: positive (PAS) and negative (NAS) age stereotypes
Participants rated nine positive age stereotypes [...] and nine negative age stereotypes [...] on a 1(not at all characteristic) to 7(very characteristic) scale [...]. Scores were coded so that higher scores represented greater endorsement of age stereotypes.

Facts on aging: aging knowledge
Participants completed a 10-item version of the 50-item Palmore’s [...] facts on aging quiz [...] in a true or false format. Scores were summed so that higher scores indicated greater aging knowledge.

Interest in careers working with older adults
Participants rated 6 items: “How interested are you in pursuing a career in healthcare/psychology/social work working with older adults?” on a 1 (not at all) to 7 (very interested) scale and “How rewarding do you think a career in healthcare/psychology/social work working with older adults would be?” on a 1(not at all) to 7(very rewarding) scale [...]. Scores were coded so that higher scores represented greater interest in careers working with older adults.

Expectations of college students’ (in general) interest in careers working with older adults
In the same 6 items as above, “I” was replaced with “college students.” [...] Scores were coded so that higher scores represented perceptions of greater interest in careers working with older adults for college students.

Aging anxiety scale
Participants rated 20 items (13 items reverse scored; [...]) on a 1(strongly disagree) to 7(strongly agree) scale ([...]e.g., “I fear it will be very hard for me to find contentment in old age”). Scores were coded so that higher scores represented greater aging anxiety.

Demographics
Participants reported their age, gender, race/ethnicity, and completed a 5-item measure of past quality and quantity of contact with older adults [...].

Study 2

The goal of Study 2 was to test the generalizability of Study 1 results with a national community sample of young adults. The design and measures used in Study 2 were the same as Study 1 except for an expanded measure of career interests.

Procedure
The procedure for Study 2 was identical to Study 1 with the exception of the recruitment procedures. Participants were recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (Mturk)

Measures

Study 2 included all Study 1 measures except for the career interest measures described below

Interest in Careers working with older adults
Participant rated 5 items to indicate career interest in each field, (1): Healthcare [...], (2) Psychology [...], and (3) Social work [...]. Items were: “I would be interested in a career in X [healthcare, psychology, social work] focused on working with older adults”; “If offered a job in X focused on working with older adults, I would accept it”; “I think a career in X focused on working with older adults would allow me to make a meaningful difference in the world;“ I think a career in X focused on working with older adults would be challenging”; “I think a career in X focused on working with older adults would be rewarding.”

Expectations of College Students’ interest in Careers working with older adults
In the same 5 items as above, “I” was replaced with “college students” for each field, (4) Healthcare [...], (5) Psychology [...], and (6) Social work [...].