Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Ageism often emerges in childhood, yet rigorously evaluated school-based interventions-especially in multicultural settings-are scarce. The study evaluated the efficacy of a 90-min educational intervention to reduce ageism among Israeli Jewish and Arab middle school students. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design, 606 Israeli Jew and Arab middle school students (aged 12-16, 53.3% girls) were assigned to either an intervention (N = 314) or a control group (N = 292), with measures of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination collected at three time points. RESULTS: In contrast to successful pilot findings, the intervention yielded no significant improvements over time on the measured outcomes. An exploratory analysis revealed that the pattern of change over time did not significantly differ across Israeli Jews and Arabs. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Results highlight challenges associated with reducing ageism in early adolescence. Our null findings contribute valuable knowledge that can guide future intervention design and advance cross-cultural ageism research.