Subjective age from childhood to advanced old age

• Verfasst von: Pinquart, Martin [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Wahl, Hans-Werner [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: Subjective age from childhood to advanced old age
• Titelzusatz: a meta-analysis
• Verf.angabe: Martin Pinquart & Hans-Werner Wahl
• Jahr: 2021
• Umfang: 13 S.
• Teil: volume:36
• Teil: year:2021
• Teil: number:3
• Teil: pages:394-406
• Teil: extent:13
• Fussnoten: Gesehen am 16.06.2021
• Titel Quelle: Enthalten in: Psychology and aging
• Ort Quelle: Arlington, Va. : Assoc., 1986
• Jahr Quelle: 2021
• Band/Heft Quelle: 36(2021), 3, Seite 394-406
• ISSN Quelle: 1939-1498
• DOI: doi:10.1037/pag0000600
• Datenträger: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: eng
• Sach-SW: adolescence
• Sach-SW: adults
• Sach-SW: cognitive age
• Sach-SW: cultural differences
• Sach-SW: feel
• Sach-SW: felt age
• Sach-SW: health
• Sach-SW: identity
• Sach-SW: life satisfaction
• Sach-SW: perceptions
• Sach-SW: self
• Sach-SW: self-perceived age
• Sach-SW: subjective age
• Sach-SW: united-states
• Sach-SW: younger
• K10plus-PPN: 1760553824

Abstract

The present meta-analysis analyzed how the gap between subjective age and chronological age changes across the life-span and whether the size of this gap varies across regions of the globe. In addition, we tested for sources of the national differences. A systematic search in electronic databases (PsycInfo, Medline, Google Scholar, PSYNDEX) and cross-referencing identified 294 studies (with mean age ranging from 8 to 105 years) that were included in random-effects meta-analyses. While children felt about 3 years or 34% older than their chronological age, older adults (60+ years) felt, on average, between 10.74 and 21.07 years or 13%-18% younger. Associations between chronological age and the size of proportional differences between subjective and chronological were best described as a quadratic relationship, while associations with the size of absolute differences could also be described as a linear relationship. The widening of the gap between subjective age and chronological age across adulthood was found in all continents. Although adults reported a relatively younger subjective age across the globe, these differences were strongest in North America, Western Europe, and Australia/Oceania, and weakest in Africa. The regional differences disappeared after statistically controlling for national levels of individualism-collectivism, power distance, preference for young people rather than older adults, and quality of life of older people.