Feeling Younger, Feeling Older: Unpacking the Complexities of Subjective Age
M Clara de Paula Couto, David Weiss

TL;DR
This paper explores how people's feelings about their age, compared to their actual age, affect their behavior and mental health through five different studies.
Contribution
The paper introduces new insights into the psychological and social mechanisms behind subjective age through diverse methodologies.
Findings
Social comparisons lead to a younger subjective age, while temporal comparisons result in an older subjective age.
Loneliness increases subjective age over time, mediated by stress.
Feeling older can encourage proactive future planning, especially in dementia caregivers.
Abstract
Subjective age, or how young or old individuals feel compared to their chronological age, influences various developmental outcomes. This symposium explores subjective age through five studies using diverse methodologies, including longitudinal and experimental designs, to examine the determinants, consequences, and mechanisms of subjective age. Weiss et al. examine how social and temporal comparisons shape subjective aging. Their findings reveal that social comparisons lead to a relative younger subjective age, while temporal comparisons often result in more negative self-perceptions of aging and an older subjective age. de Paula Couto et al. build on the dual-process theory of developmental regulation. showing that individuals counteract societal negative attitudes towards aging by feeling younger (assimilation) or redefining old age (accommodation). Younger participants felt younger…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAging and Gerontology Research · Identity, Memory, and Therapy · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
