Personality, Self-rated Health, and Subjective Age in a Life-span Sample: the Moderating Role of Chronological Age

Overview

Journal Psychol Aging

Publisher American Psychological Association

Specialty Geriatrics

Date 2012 May 16

PMID 22582885

Citations 23

Authors

Yannick Stephan

Virginie Demulier

Antonio Terracciano

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The present study tested whether chronological age moderates the association between subjective age and self-rated health and personality in a community-dwelling life-span sample (N = 1,016; age range: 18-91 years). Self-rated health, extraversion, and openness to experience were associated with a younger subjective age at older ages. Conscientious individuals felt more mature early in life. Conscientiousness, neuroticism, and agreeableness were not related to subjective age at older ages. These findings suggest that with aging self-rated health and personality traits are increasingly important for subjective age.

Citing Articles

Personal views of aging in midlife and older age: the role of personality.

Carbone E, Sella E, Signori D, Borella E Front Psychol. 2024; 15:1437232.

PMID: 39444839 PMC: 11497127. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1437232.

Association between personality traits and concerns about falling among older patients: the mediating role of subjective age.

Fan R, Wang L, Wang W, Zhong Y, Zhang T, Yang X Front Public Health. 2024; 12:1343939.

PMID: 39220451 PMC: 11363425. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1343939.

Influence of Contact Experience and Germ Aversion on Negative Attitudes Toward Older Adults: Role of Youth Identity.

Shimizu Y, Hashimoto T, Karasawa K Front Psychol. 2022; 13:829742.

PMID: 35369162 PMC: 8965861. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.829742.

Personality and subjective age: Evidence from six samples.

Stephan Y, Sutin A, Kornadt A, Canada B, Terracciano A Psychol Aging. 2022; 37(3):401-412.

PMID: 35298205 PMC: 9843495. DOI: 10.1037/pag0000678.

Experience of Time and Subjective Age When Facing a Limited Lifetime: The Case of Older Adults with Advanced Cancer.

Laryionava K, Schonstein A, Heussner P, Hiddemann W, Winkler E, Wahl H J Aging Health. 2021; 34(4-5):736-749.

PMID: 34967672 PMC: 9446453. DOI: 10.1177/08982643211063162.

References

Weiss D, Lang F . "They" are old but "I" feel younger: age-group dissociation as a self-protective strategy in old age. Psychol Aging. 2011; 27(1):153-163. DOI: 10.1037/a0024887. View

Barrett A . Socioeconomic status and age identity: the role of dimensions of health in the subjective construction of age. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2003; 58(2):S101-9. DOI: 10.1093/geronb/58.2.s101. View

Infurna F, Gerstorf D, Robertson S, Berg S, Zarit S . The nature and cross-domain correlates of subjective age in the oldest old: Evidence from the OCTO Study. Psychol Aging. 2010; 25(2):470-6. DOI: 10.1037/a0017979. View

Stephan Y, Caudroit J, Chalabaev A . Subjective health and memory self-efficacy as mediators in the relation between subjective age and life satisfaction among older adults. Aging Ment Health. 2011; 15(4):428-36. DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2010.536138. View

Barak B, Stern B . Subjective age correlates: a research note. Gerontologist. 1986; 26(5):571-8. DOI: 10.1093/geront/26.5.571. View

Duberstein P, Sorensen S, Lyness J, King D, Conwell Y, Seidlitz L . Personality is associated with perceived health and functional status in older primary care patients. Psychol Aging. 2003; 18(1):25-37. DOI: 10.1037/0882-7974.18.1.25. View

Phelan C, Love G, Ryff C, Brown R, Heidrich S . Psychosocial predictors of changing sleep patterns in aging women: a multiple pathway approach. Psychol Aging. 2010; 25(4):858-66. PMC: 3780608. DOI: 10.1037/a0019622. View

Knoll N, Rieckmann N, Scholz U, Schwarzer R . Predictors of subjective age before and after cataract surgery: conscientiousness makes a difference. Psychol Aging. 2004; 19(4):676-88. DOI: 10.1037/0882-7974.19.4.676. View

Chapman B, Fiscella K, Kawachi I, Duberstein P . Personality, socioeconomic status, and all-cause mortality in the United States. Am J Epidemiol. 2009; 171(1):83-92. PMC: 2800299. DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwp323. View

10.

Kotter-Gruhn D, Kleinspehn-Ammerlahn A, Gerstorf D, Smith J . Self-perceptions of aging predict mortality and change with approaching death: 16-year longitudinal results from the Berlin Aging Study. Psychol Aging. 2009; 24(3):654-67. DOI: 10.1037/a0016510. View

11.

Weiss D, Freund A . Still young at heart: negative age-related information motivates distancing from same-aged people. Psychol Aging. 2011; 27(1):173-80. DOI: 10.1037/a0024819. View

12.

DeSalvo K, Bloser N, Reynolds K, He J, Muntner P . Mortality prediction with a single general self-rated health question. A meta-analysis. J Gen Intern Med. 2005; 21(3):267-75. PMC: 1828094. DOI: 10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.00291.x. View

13.

Mock S, Eibach R . Aging attitudes moderate the effect of subjective age on psychological well-being: evidence from a 10-year longitudinal study. Psychol Aging. 2011; 26(4):979-86. DOI: 10.1037/a0023877. View

14.

Donnellan M, Lucas R . Age differences in the Big Five across the life span: evidence from two national samples. Psychol Aging. 2008; 23(3):558-66. PMC: 2562318. DOI: 10.1037/a0012897. View

15.

Nikitin J, Freund A . Age and motivation predict gaze behavior for facial expressions. Psychol Aging. 2011; 26(3):695-700. DOI: 10.1037/a0023281. View

16.

Igier V, Mullet E . Application of the five-factor model of personality to intergenerational perception. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2003; 58(3):P177-86. DOI: 10.1093/geronb/58.3.p177. View

17.

Rubin D, Berntsen D . People over forty feel 20% younger than their age: subjective age across the lifespan. Psychon Bull Rev. 2007; 13(5):776-80. PMC: 3969748. DOI: 10.3758/bf03193996. View

18.

Kleinspehn-Ammerlahn A, Kotter-Gruhn D, Smith J . Self-perceptions of aging: do subjective age and satisfaction with aging change during old age?. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2008; 63(6):P377-85. DOI: 10.1093/geronb/63.6.p377. View

19.

Benyamini Y, Leventhal E, Leventhal H . Elderly people's ratings of the importance of health-related factors to their self-assessments of health. Soc Sci Med. 2003; 56(8):1661-7. DOI: 10.1016/s0277-9536(02)00175-2. View

20.

Quinn M, Johnson M, Poon L, MARTIN P . Psychosocial correlates of subjective health in sexagenarians, octogenarians, and centenarians. Issues Ment Health Nurs. 1999; 20(2):151-71. DOI: 10.1080/016128499248727. View