Age and Chronic and Temporary Criminality: Associations With Implicit and Explicit Criminal Identities

Abstract

This cross-disciplinary study investigates how and why age may be related to explicit and implicit criminal identity (ICI). The current study replicates previous research and investigates the effect of an experimental manipulation of making criminality temporarily salient on implicit and explicit identity, and whether this effect is moderated by the age of the participant. Study 1 replicated the results of the original study. Study 2 found that, among those in the control condition, older participants had a stronger ICI than younger participants. However, younger participants in the experimental condition had a significantly stronger ICI compared to younger participants in the control condition (and older participants in the experimental and control conditions did not differ). When criminality was made salient, the strength of the ICI among younger participants was similar to that of older participants. These findings add to the discussion of the criminality onset, persistence, and desistance across age groups.