Awareness of Age-Related Change: Examination of a (Mostly) Unexplored Concept

Abstract

This theoretical article discusses the emerging concept of awareness of age-related change (AARC). We propose that a focus on AARC extends the research traditions on subjective age experiences and age identity and that examination of this concept can serve a stimulating role in social gerontology. After defining and contrasting AARC against similar concepts, several reasons for the relevance of this mostly unexplored construct are provided. The sample domains of health and physical functioning, cognitive functioning, and interpersonal relations are used to illustrate the relevance of AARC. Based on this review, we then provide a heuristic framework that describes antecedents, processes, and outcomes related to AARC. Overall, we argue that research on AARC should become an integral part of social gerontological research.

Goal-setting to Promote a Healthier Lifestyle in Later Life: Qualitative Evaluation of the AgeWell Trial

“…Participation in the study raised awareness of age-related changes and allowed people to consider making changes to their lifestyle they may not have considered otherwise. This raised awareness may be beneficial as awareness of age-related changes may translate into behaviors that may optimize, maintain or compensate for changes as people age (Diehl & Wahl, 2010). …”

“The closer you get …”: age, attitudes and self-serving evaluations about older drivers

“…The concept of awareness of age-related changes (AARC) by Diehl and Wahl (2010) refers ''to all those experiences that make a person aware that his or her behaviour, level of performance, or ways of experiencing his or her life have changed as a consequence of having grown older (i.e. increased chronological age).''…”

“…This description perfectly matches the situation of older drivers since these may be confronted both with subjective experiences of a changed capacity as well as with the public discourse about the risk older drivers may represent due to potentially diminished capacity. Moreover, driving is a domain that is highly important for the AARC because it is linked to several dimensions underlying this construct: driving capacity is clearly related to physical and cognitive functioning, also has consequences for interpersonal relations as well as for one's life style and engagement (see Diehl and Wahl 2010).…”

“…It is here that self-regulative strategies are used to avoid this threat to the self. Diehl and Wahl (2010) describe these strategies triggered by AARC as psychological processes of personal meaning making and selfregulation of behaviour and they include theoretical models here proposed by Brandtstädter and Rothermund (2002), Heckhausen and Schulz (1995) or Baltes (1997).…”

“…The following study picks up these notions and investigates attitudes about older drivers and measures to increase road safety from the perspective of different age groups. Perception of driving capacity with advancing age is considered a prototypical case of awareness of age-related changes (AARC, Diehl and Wahl 2010), and the self-regulative strategy of agegroup dissociation (Weiss and Lang 2012) is analysed as means to cope with negative stereotypes about older drivers.…”