Content area
Full text
ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we carry out a narrative review of the longitudinal impact of subjective aging on health and survival. We have a specific focus on the different pathways which can explain the relation of subjective aging to health and survival. We focus on the three most common conceptualizations of subjective age: (a) age identity, (b) self-perceptions of aging, and (c) self-perceptions of age-related growth and decline. For each concept, we present the theoretical background, the empirical studies on the effects on health and survival, and conclude with the pathways which might explain these effects. The chapter ends with a heuristic model that synthesizes the theories and findings in describing how subjective aging is related to different psychological resources, which are in turn related to health and survival. Last, we provide some possible directions for further research in this area.
INTRODUCTION
Over the past several decades, life expectancy has increased substantially. Given the fact that old age is nowadays a phase in life that is attainable for most people, the concept of subjective aging, that is, the way in which individuals think about their own aging process, may be more important than ever before. Although life expectancy has increased, people also tend to live longer with more chronic diseases. How adults perceive and experience their own aging may contribute to how individuals try to prevent and cope with illness in later life. In this chapter, we will review evidence of the longitudinal impact of subjective aging on health and longevity. Furthermore, we will develop a heuristic model that may be useful in guiding future empirical research on how subjective aging contributes to health and survival in adulthood and old age.
One of the particularities of human beings is that they are able to reflect on themselves as persons and thereby also on their own process of growing older. People attribute meaning to the intricate mix of changes and events in biological, social, and psychological functioning, which happen as they grow older. In this process, they develop cognitive representations of their own aging process. Researchers have used different concepts to describe these cognitive representations, such as subjective age, age identity, aging self, attitudes toward one's own aging, self-perceptions of aging, or satisfaction with aging...