Personality and Subjective Age: Evidence from Six Samples

in Psychology and Aging (2022), 37(3), 401-412

Subjective age is associated with health-related outcomes across adulthood. The present study examined the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between personality traits and subjective age ... [more ▼]

Subjective age is associated with health-related outcomes across adulthood. The present study examined the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between personality traits and subjective age. Participants (N > 31,000) were from the Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS), the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), the National Health and Aging Study (NHATS), the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study Graduate (WLSG) and Siblings (WLSS) samples, and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Demographic factors, personality traits, and subjective age were assessed at baseline. Subjective age was assessed again in the MIDUS, the HRS, and the NHATS, 4 to almost 20 years later. Across the samples and a meta-analysis, higher neuroticism was related to an older subjective age, whereas higher extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were associated with a younger subjective age. Self-rated health, physical activity, chronic conditions, and depressive symptoms partially mediated these relationships. There was little evidence that chronological age moderated these associations. Multilevel longitudinal analyses found similar associations with the intercept and weak evidence for an association with the slope in the opposite of the expected direction: Lower neuroticism and higher extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were related to feeling relatively older over time. The present study provides replicable evidence that personality is related to subjective age. It extends existing conceptualization of subjective age as a biopsychosocial marker of aging by showing that how old or young individuals feel partly reflects personality traits. [less ▲]

“I Felt so Old This Morning.” Short-Term Variations in Subjective Age and the Role of Trait Subjective Age: Evidence from the ILSE/EMIL Ecological Momentary Assessment Data

in Psychology and Aging (2021), 36(3), 373-382

Subjective age, how old people feel compared to their chronological age, is a central indicator of age identity and highly predictive for developmental outcomes. While mostly used as a trait-like concept ... [more ▼]

Subjective age, how old people feel compared to their chronological age, is a central indicator of age identity and highly predictive for developmental outcomes. While mostly used as a trait-like concept in previous research, recent studies employing experimental designs and daily assessments suggest that subjective age can vary after experimental manipulations or between days. However, less is known about whether subjective age varies over even shorter time frames such as within moments on a given day, how such short-term variability differs by age and its association with trait subjective age. We examined these questions with data obtained from 123 young–old (Mage = 67.19 years) and 47 old–old adults (Mage = 86.59 years) who reported their momentary subjective age six times a day over 7 consecutive days as they were going about their everyday lives. Participants felt younger on a large majority of occasions, and 25% of the total variability in subjective age could be attributed to within-person variation. Within-person variability in subjective age amounted to an average of about 3 years from one moment to the next and did not differ between age groups. However, those with younger trait subjective ages exhibited larger moment-to-moment variation. Our findings extend the literature on subjective age by showing that how old people feel can vary on a momentary basis and that state and trait components of subjective age are related. Further research should investigate the contextual predictors of variability in subjective age and the links between trait and state concepts and developmental outcomes. [less ▲]

Polygenic Scores for Education, Health, and Personality as Predictors of Subjective Age Among Older Individuals of European Ancestry: Evidence From the Health and Retirement Study

in Psychology and Aging (2019), 34(1), 139-144

The present study aimed to identify whether polygenic scores (PGSs) for education, health and psychological factors are related to subjective age in a large sample of older adults. Participants were 7,763 ... [more ▼]

The present study aimed to identify whether polygenic scores (PGSs) for education, health and psychological factors are related to subjective age in a large sample of older adults. Participants were 7,763 individuals of European ancestry (57% women, Mean age = 69.15, SD = 10.18) from the Health and Retirement Study who were genotyped and provided subjective age data. Higher PGSs for educational achievement and well-being were related to a younger subjective age, whereas higher PGSs for neuroticism, body mass index, waist circumference, and depressive symptoms were associated with an older subjective age. This study provides new evidence on the potential genetic underpinnings of subjective age. [less ▲]

Genetic and Environmental Sources of Individual Differences in Views on Aging

in Psychology and Aging (2017), 32(4), 388-399

Views on aging are central psychosocial variables in the aging process, but knowledge about their determinants is still fragmental. Thus, the authors investigated the degree to which genetic and ... [more ▼]

Views on aging are central psychosocial variables in the aging process, but knowledge about their determinants is still fragmental. Thus, the authors investigated the degree to which genetic and environmental factors contribute to individual differences in various domains of views on aging (wisdom, work, fitness, and family), and whether these variance components vary across ages. They analyzed data from 350 monozygotic and 322 dizygotic twin pairs from the Midlife Development in the U.S. (MIDUS) study, aged 25-74. Individual differences in views on aging were mainly due to individual-specific environmental and genetic effects. However, depending on the domain, genetic and environmental contributions to the variance differed. Furthermore, for some domains, variability was larger for older participants; this was attributable to increases in environmental components. This study extends research on genetic and environmental sources of psychosocial variables and stimulates future studies investigating the etiology of views on aging across the life span. [less ▲]

The Impact of Age Stereotypes on Source Monitoring in Younger and Older Adults

in Psychology and Aging (2016), 31(8), 875-889

In 2 experiments, we examined reliance on age stereotypes when reconstructing the sources of statements. Two sources presented statements (half typical for a young adult, half for an old adult). Afterward ... [more ▼]

In 2 experiments, we examined reliance on age stereotypes when reconstructing the sources of statements. Two sources presented statements (half typical for a young adult, half for an old adult). Afterward, the sources' ages-23 and 70 years-were revealed and participants completed a source-monitoring task requiring attribution of statements to the sources. Multinomial model-based analyses revealed no age-typicality effect on source memory; however, age-typicality biased source-guessing: When not remembering the source, participants predominantly guessed the source for whose age the statement was typical. Thereby, people retrospectively described the sources as having made more statements that fit with stereotypes about their age group than they had truly made. In Experiment 1, older (60-84 years) participants' guessing bias was stronger than younger (17-26 years) participants', but they also had poorer source memory. Furthermore, older adults with better source memory were less biased than those with poorer source memory. Similarly, younger adults' age-stereotype reliance was larger when source memory was impaired in Experiment 2. Thus, age stereotypes bias source attributions, and individuals with poor source memory are particularly prone to this bias, which may contribute to the maintenance of age stereotypes over time. [less ▲]

Internalization of Age Stereotypes Into the Self-Concept via Future Self-Views: A General Model and Domain-Specific Differences

in Psychology and Aging (2012), 27(1), 164-172

We investigated a pathway through which age stereotypes (AS) become internalized into the self. Domain-specific AS, as well as future self-views (FS) and current self-views (CS), were assessed in a sample ... [more ▼]

We investigated a pathway through which age stereotypes (AS) become internalized into the self. Domain-specific AS, as well as future self-views (FS) and current self-views (CS), were assessed in a sample of middle-aged and older adults. AS were positively related to CS and this effect was mediated via FS. These relations were stronger for older persons, indicating that the internalization process depends on a self-categorization as being old. A comparison of life domains revealed that an age-dependent internalization of AS emerged mainly for those domains in which age-related changes are expected to occur during later phases of life. [less ▲]