A recent study from the University of Exeter has highlighted a common challenge faced by members of Generation Z when it comes to recognizing faces of older individuals. This research investigates a phenomenon known as the Own-Age Bias (OAB), which suggests that individuals are generally better at identifying faces that resemble their own age. The study’s findings indicate that while younger adults exhibit a clear preference for recognizing faces in their age group, older adults show no such bias.
Researchers compared two distinct age groups: adults aged 19 to 30 and those aged 69 to 80. Participants were initially shown a variety of unfamiliar faces before attempting to identify them from a mixed set that included both previously seen and new faces. Results revealed that younger adults excelled at recognizing their peers but faced significant difficulty with older faces. Conversely, older adults demonstrated equal proficiency in recognizing both younger and older individuals.
According to Professor Ciro Civile, a psychologist from the University of Exeter’s Department of Psychology, this discrepancy likely stems from differences in life experience rather than inherent bias. He explained, “Older participants have been young, they’ve developed the ability to process the information in younger faces and recognize them. As they then age, they learn to process and recognize older faces. On the other hand, younger participants have only developed the ability to recognize the faces in their own age group.”
Impact of Experience on Face Recognition
To further investigate the role of experience in face recognition, the research team repeated the task using inverted images of faces. Under these conditions, neither age group displayed an advantage, which suggests that the Own-Age Bias is influenced by perceptual expertise gained through exposure and practice. This finding reinforces the argument that the younger generation’s struggle to recognize older faces is not a reflection of ageism or negative stereotypes, but rather a result of limited exposure.
Professor Civile emphasized the real-world implications of these findings, particularly in high-stakes scenarios like eyewitness testimony. “Understanding the younger group’s difficulty recognizing older people is important for situations such as eyewitness testimony, where a person’s age can influence their accuracy in identifying suspects outside their age group,” he stated. “Our findings suggest that expertise or training can improve recognition of individuals from different age groups.”
The study, titled “Testing the Own-Age Bias in Face Recognition among Younger and Older Adults via the Face Inversion Effect,” is set to be published in the journal Perception in March 2025. It highlights the importance of acknowledging the cognitive processes behind face recognition and suggests potential avenues for enhancing identification skills across different age groups.
These insights are especially relevant for law enforcement and legal professionals, who may need to consider age-related recognition challenges when evaluating eyewitness accounts. As society continues to evolve, understanding these biases can foster better communication and interactions between generations.
