Chronological Age and Subjective Perception of the Old-Age Threshold: An Empirical Verification of the Age-Group Dissociation Effect Using European Social Survey Data

Jurek, Łukasz

doi:10.1134/s2079057022010052

Cited by 5 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…We replicated the effect seen in previous research that as people age they identify with younger age groups (Kuper and Marmot, 2003;Rubin and Berntsen, 2006;Taylor et al, 2009;Augustyński and Jurek, 2021;Jurek, 2022). We found these patterns in all 13 countries we had access to in the current report.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…We chose the countries based on the data publicly available to us rather than a more systematic sampling of countries, which was also a limitation. As more cross-cultural data collections include these measures, more comprehensive cross-cultural examinations will become feasible, possibly in aggregation with our and others' data (Augustyński and Jurek, 2021;Jurek, 2022).…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, most of this work has focused on subjective age (i.e., how old people feel), with only a handful of cross-cultural studies examining developmental transitions, and mostly only focused on European countries (Ayalon et al, 2014;Augustyński and Jurek, 2021;Jurek, 2022). The few studies that have been conducted find that, across cultures, older adults report a younger subjective age (e.g., Van Auken et al, 2006;Hess et al, 2017;O'Brien et al, 2017;Liang, 2020;Ackerman and Chopik, 2021).…”

Section: Cultural Variation In Age Perceptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although this study was among one of the few cross-cultural investigations of age perceptions and perceived developmental transitions (Augustyński and Jurek, 2021;Jurek, 2022), we had too few countries to formally model explanatory predictors of variation in these effects (e.g., characteristics like individualism/collectivism). We chose the countries based on the data publicly available to us rather than a more systematic sampling of countries, which was also a limitation.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As people age, they increasingly report feeling younger than their actual age and "push off " when they think older adulthood starts, presumably-among many reasons-to create and maintain psychological distance from the stigma of being an older adult (e.g., Kotter-Grühn et al, 2009;Weiss and Lang, 2012;Ayalon et al, 2014;Chopik et al, 2018;Weiss and Kornadt, 2018;Jurek, 2022). However, cultures vary in their perception of older adulthood and aging (North and Fiske, 2015a,b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Cultural variation in age perceptions and developmental transitions

Vargas,

Carrillo,

Giasson

et al. 2024

Front. Soc. Psychol.

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As people age, they increasingly report feeling younger than their actual age and “push off” when they think older adulthood starts, presumably to create and maintain psychological distance from the stigma of being an older adult. However, to date, such age perceptions and attitudes have mostly been studied in Western cultures (e.g., the United States and Europe). However, cultures vary in their perception of older adulthood and aging, suggesting that the extent to which people engage in these distancing processes might differ across cultures. In the current study, we examined age differences in age perceptions and perceived developmental transitions (e.g., when does someone move from middle age to older adulthood?) in 13 countries with over one million people total. We found that age-group distancing was present in each country but that this pattern was less pronounced in South Korea. Results are discussed in the context of cross-cultural variation in aging attitudes and the mechanisms that give rise to variation in age perceptions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cultural Variation In Age Perceptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Cultural variation in age perceptions and developmental transitions

Vargas,

Carrillo,

Giasson

et al. 2024

Front. Soc. Psychol.

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Postponing old age: Evidence for historical change toward a later perceived onset of old age.

Wettstein,

Park,

Kornadt

et al. 2024

Psychology and Aging

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At what age would you describe someone as old?" Perceptions of when old age begins might be prone to upward shifts because of historical increases in life expectancy and in retirement age, as well as because of better psychosocial functioning in later life. We investigated historical changes in within-person trajectories of the perceived onset of old age using data from 14,056 participants who entered the German Ageing Survey at age 40-85 years and who completed up to eight assessments across 25 years. Using longitudinal multilevel regression models, we found that at age 64, the average perceived onset of old age is at about age 75 years. Longitudinally, this perceived onset age increased by about 1 year for every 4-5 years of actual aging. We also found evidence for historical change. Compared to the earliest-born cohorts, later-born cohorts reported a later perceived onset of old age, yet with decelerating trend among more recent birth cohorts. Within-person increases of the perceived onset of old age were steeper in later-born cohorts. The described cohort trends were only slightly reduced when controlling for covariates. Being younger, male, living in East Germany, feeling older, reporting more loneliness, more chronic diseases, and poorer self-rated health were each associated with a perceived earlier onset of old age. Our results suggest that there is a nonlinear historical trend toward a later perceived onset of old age, which might have meaningful implications for individuals' perspectives on aging and old age. Public Significance StatementIn this study, we observed that the perceived onset of old age, which describes from which age on individuals perceive a person as "old," has changed across historical time. Middle-aged and older adults believe that old age begins later than did their peers 1 or 2 decades ago, yet the trend seems to be decelerating recently. Moreover, when getting older, people's perceived onset of old age increases to a steeper extent today compared to the past. As the historical trend toward a postponed subjective onset of old age were still observable when controlling for sociodemographic, psychosocial, and health-related factors, more research is needed to understand why old age is perceived to begin increasingly later across historical time.

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Historical Cohort Differences in Views on Aging in the US: A Trend Toward Longer Midlife but Older Felt Age

Ennis,

Gehring,

Wurm

2024

Res Aging

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This study compared equal age groups from two cohorts from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study surveyed at different times to characterize societal changes in measures of subjective age and age threshold. Two successive MIDUS cohorts were utilized (1995–1996 and 2011–2014; age range 25–74). Outcomes included subjective age (felt age and desired age) and age threshold. Following multiple imputations of missing data and balancing methods, weighted linear regression measured associations between subjective age outcomes and cohort, sex, and chronological age. Individuals of the later MIDUS cohort reported older felt age and younger desired age in middle age groups (35–64 years old). An increase in age threshold was observed only in older age groups (65+). Possible underlying historical changes in health and societal age stereotypes are explored to explain the observed trend toward older felt age and age threshold, but a younger desired age.

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Chronological Age and Subjective Perception of the Old-Age Threshold: An Empirical Verification of the Age-Group Dissociation Effect Using European Social Survey Data

Cited by 5 publications

References 16 publications

Cultural variation in age perceptions and developmental transitions

Cultural variation in age perceptions and developmental transitions

Postponing old age: Evidence for historical change toward a later perceived onset of old age.

Historical Cohort Differences in Views on Aging in the US: A Trend Toward Longer Midlife but Older Felt Age

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