Perceptions of individuals who engage in age concealment.

Previous literature suggests that individuals who engage in age concealment are viewed differently depending on the type of concealment used, motivations behind engagement, and to some extent, the age of the target individual.This study aimed to expand on the literature by integrating perceiver factors such as gender, age, and individual differences in intrasexual competition, alongside the individual target factors such as concealment type and motivation for use.Using a sample of 306 participants recruited online, a linear mixed model found main effects of the target's motivation and concealment type, and perceiver's gender and intrasexual competition, but not perceiver age on target evaluations.We also found that females evaluated the targets most positively when age concealment was motivated by self-esteem, followed by employment and least positively for romantic purposes whereas males did not differ on their evaluations based on motivation.Finally, we found that the higher the female participant ICS trait, the less positively they rated the targets.These findings suggest that the general perception towards the type and motivations behind the engagement have not changed despite the increasing access to age concealment, and that perceiver trait differences also play a role in how concealers are evaluated.