"Feeling Younger, Being Stronger": An Experimental Study of Subjective Age and Physical Functioning Among Older Adults

Stéphan, Yannick; Chalabaev, Aïna; Kotter-Grühn, Dana; Jaconelli, Alban

doi:10.1093/geronb/gbs037

Cited by 203 publications

(175 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

163

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Although explicitly making people feel favorable compared to younger people in experimental studies has shown short-term improvements in physical [62] and cognitive [61] tasks, respectively, longer-term effects of explicit positive stereotypes in the daily lives of older adults (such as media messages depicting "healthy, active, and happy" older people) and the effects of dominant "successful aging" discourses (found in academic literature and popular press) are less well known. Making upward, rather than downward, social comparisons has multiple likely effects on the health behaviors of older individuals [63].…”

Section: Explicit Priming Of Positive Stereotypes Of Aging (And Sterementioning

confidence: 99%

Stereotypes of Aging: Their Effects on the Health of Older Adults

Dionigi

2015

Journal of Geriatrics

140

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The purpose of this review is to present findings on the effects of stereotypes of aging on health outcomes related to older adults, such as physical and mental functioning (specifically) and overall well-being and perceived quality of life (more broadly). This review shows that both positive and negative stereotypes of aging can have enabling and constraining effects on the actions, performance, decisions, attitudes, and, consequently, holistic health of an older adult. This review further highlights a variety of limitations in stereotype research in aging contexts, including a lack of qualitative studies focusing on older adult perspectives and the fluctuating definition of what constitutes "good health" during older age.

show abstract

Section: Explicit Priming Of Positive Stereotypes Of Aging (And Sterementioning

confidence: 99%

Stereotypes of Aging: Their Effects on the Health of Older Adults

Dionigi

2015

Journal of Geriatrics

140

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…the age people perceive themselves to be (Barak & Stern, 1986;Kleinspehn-Ammerlahn et al, 2008). Stephan, Chalabaev, Kotter-Grühn, and Jaconelli (2013) showed that subjective age can be manipulated via downward social comparison. This would complement the suggested internal self-evaluation with an external, comparative evaluation.…”

Section: Predictors For Health Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such an approach can be especially helpful for so-called tailored interventions, which are personalized by a variety of factors to increase intervention participants' commitment and adherence due to a higher personal relevance of the provided content (Hawkins, Kreuter, Resnicow, Fishbein, & Dijkstra, 2008). Social comparison could be one approach to doing so by inducing younger subjective age identities via tailored messages or providing appropriate reference groups for comparison to intervene on subjective physical age (Stephan et al, 2013).…”

Section: Implications and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct effects of a domain-specific subjective age measure on self-reported physical activity – Is it more important how old you are or how old you feel?

Wienert¹,

Kuhlmann²,

Lippke³

2015

Health Psychology Report

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Research has shown that physical activity is important for healthy aging. At the same time, physical activity and different age factors (chronological and subjective age measures) are interrelated. The present study investigated whether subjective physical age and chronological age are significantly correlated with physical activity over time. participants and procedureA study design with baseline assessment and a 4-week follow-up period was conducted with an online sample (N = 541), aged 25-78 years (M = 39.62, SD = 10.74). Regression analysis with the enter method was used to predict subsequent physical activity by baseline predictors. resultsSubjective physical age correlates with chronological age (r = -.34, p < .001). Subjective physical age predicted subsequent physical activity when controlling for baseline variables (B = -.12, t = -2.43, p = .015) until past physical activity was entered (B = -.06, t = -1.44, p = .150). The final model explained 33% of variance in subsequent physical activity. conclusionsSubjective physical age seems to be more important for physical activity than chronological age. This is an important finding as subjective physical age might be a target for interventions, to enable individuals to become more physically active. Future studies should investigate non-linear relationships between subjective physical age, social-cognitive predictors of physical activity and physical activity behavior.key words subjective age; domain-specific measure; social cognitive predictors for behavior change; online study; self-reported physical activity

show abstract

“…For example, two studies have shown that positive feedback can not only improve perceptions of age, but also physical performance (Stephan et al, 2013) and cognitive functioning (Miche and Wahl, 2013).…”

Section: Improving Attitudes Toward Own Agingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ageism: we are our own worst enemy

Sargent‐Cox

2016

Int. Psychogeriatr.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In 1969, Butler (1969) first coined the term “ageism” to confront “prejudice by one age group toward other age groups” (pp. 243). As with other “isms,” such as racism and sexism, ageism leads to bigotry and discrimination, though it is a very distinct beast in that, for the most part, other “isms” refer to those different from ourselves: distinct, mutually exclusive, and impervious groups. Conversely, age is a fluid social construct in which we are all intimately bound as we move through the lifespan, transitioning in and out of different age-groups. Unlike other “isms,” individuals negotiate shifts from the “in-group” of youth to the “out-group” of old age. Yet we are all immersed, largely unconsciously, in this ubiquitous but too often unrecognized “ism” that needs to be named and challenged.

show abstract

"Feeling Younger, Being Stronger": An Experimental Study of Subjective Age and Physical Functioning Among Older Adults

Cited by 203 publications

References 28 publications

Stereotypes of Aging: Their Effects on the Health of Older Adults

Stereotypes of Aging: Their Effects on the Health of Older Adults

Direct effects of a domain-specific subjective age measure on self-reported physical activity – Is it more important how old you are or how old you feel?

Ageism: we are our own worst enemy

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About