Experimental evidence suggests that subjective age changes in response to age-related social cues and information. There are reasons to expect that subjective age would be sensitive to perceived age discrimination. Discrimination reflects rejection and social exclusion, and is considered a significant social stressor that has harmful effects for physical and mental health. With advancing age, individuals are increasingly exposed to negative stereotypes of aging, which may translate into social devaluation, unfair treatment, and age discrimination. The extent to which individuals feel discriminated against because of their age is a significant social experience that may contribute to how old or young they feel. From a biomedical perspective, we examine whether subjective age is associated with a variety of clinical and laboratory assessments that account for individuals’ physical fitness and health condition. From a psychosocial perspective, we examine whether subjective age is associated with the perceived experience of age discrimination. Drawing upon these theoretical accounts, the present study examines the links between subjective age and both psychosocial and biomedical indicators. To date, most research has focused on either psychosocial or biomedical factors, with little research that considers these different perspectives simultaneously. From a biomedical perspective, how old or young an individual feels is sensitive to information about one's physical health and functioning. From a social psychological perspective, the age an individual feels is associated with social and environmental cues, particularly information about aging. Two non-mutually exclusive theoretical perspectives have developed in parallel on the predictors of subjective age.
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Many of these studies test subjective age as a predictor of important outcomes at older ages less research has addressed the variables associated with how individuals' subjectively evaluate their age. These associations persist even when controlling for chronological age, demographic and health-related variables. A growing body of research indicates that a younger subjective age is associated with a range of positive outcomes in old age, including higher psychological well-being, better physical and cognitive functioning, and longevity. Subjective age refers to how young or old individuals experience themselves to be, relative to their chronological age.
FUNCTIONAL AGE VS CHRONOLOGICAL AGE REGISTRATION
Telomere length are Sensitive Health Data Products that are available under terms of a supplemental registration system.įunding: These authors have no support or funding to report.Ĭompeting interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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FUNCTIONAL AGE VS CHRONOLOGICAL AGE DOWNLOAD
HRS data is publically available for download to registered users at. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedĭata Availability: The research paper is based on the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Received: OctoAccepted: JanuPublished: March 4, 2015Ĭopyright: © 2015 Stephan et al. PLoS ONE 10(3):Īcademic Editor: Antony Bayer, Cardiff University, UNITED KINGDOM These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that how old a person feels depends in part on psychosocial and biomedical factors, including the experiences of ageism and perceptible indices of fitness and biological age.Ĭitation: Stephan Y, Sutin AR, Terracciano A (2015) How Old Do You Feel? The Role of Age Discrimination and Biological Aging in Subjective Age. In contrast, blood pressure and telomere length were not related to subjective age. Regression analysis indicated that perceived age discrimination, lower peak expiratory flow, lower grip strength, and higher waist circumference were associated with an older subjective age, controlling for sociodemographic factors, self-rated health, and depression. Telomere length was available for a subset of participants in the 2008 wave (n = 2214). Participants were 4776 adults ( M age = 68) from the 20 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) who completed measures of subjective age, age discrimination, demographic variables, self-rated health and depression, and had physical health measures, including peak expiratory flow, grip strength, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
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To identify psychosocial and biomedical factors linked to the subjective evaluation of age, this study examined whether perceived age discrimination and markers of biological aging are associated with subjective age. Subjective age is a significant predictor of important health outcomes, but little is known about the criteria by which individuals' subjectively evaluate their age. Subjective age, or how young or old individuals experience themselves to be relative to their chronological age, is a crucial construct in gerontology.