Changes in Subjective Age During COVID-19

Abstract

Background and Objectives To examine change in subjective age with the emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Two competing hypotheses were tested: (a) people felt increasingly older due to the stress generated by the pandemic; (b) people felt increasingly younger due to psychological distancing from older age, a vulnerability to COVID-19. Research Design and Methods An age and sex stratified sample of adults from across the United States (baseline N = 3,738) was assessed on three occasions: before the COVID-19 outbreak in late-January/early-February and during the outbreak in late-March and again in late-April. Multilevel modeling analysis examined change in subjective age and tested potential moderators of individual differences in the trajectory of subjective age. Results The average trajectory of subjective age followed a concave curve, with a nadir (feeling younger) during the second assessment in late-March. Older age, negative expectations about aging, absence of pre-existing conditions, and less stress during COVID-19 were associated with feeling younger but did not predict the rate of change. The only significant predictor of change in subjective age was the belief that the “coronavirus is only a threat to older adults”: The more individuals agreed with this statement, the more likely it was that they felt increasingly younger at follow-up. Discussion and Implications Subjective age changed during a global health crisis, with people feeling younger with the emergence COVID-19. The findings support the hypothesis that subjective age partly reflects a coping process of psychological distancing from older age, the age group most vulnerable to COVID-19.

Ageism in the time of COVID-19

“…A threewave study in the US with participants aged 18 and over (N = 3,738) revealed that participants' tendency to feel younger increased with the emergence of the pandemic, and was predicted by the extent to which participants believed COVID-19 to be a threat to older adults (Terracciano et al, 2020). This is indicative of a strategy to protect the self from negative information, such as stereotypes about ageing (Weiss & Lang, 2012) and the threat of COVID-19, by feeling younger (Terracciano et al, 2020). For older adults, psychologically distancing themselves from their age could protect them from threats to their identity, but it could also mean they do not recognize themselves in the descriptive language used by the media or policymakers, because the descriptions do not conform to how they view themselves (see Kruglanski et al, 2021, for discussion of threats to self during COVID-19).…”

“…Emerging evidence suggests that the pandemic seems to be exacerbating this disconnect. A three-wave study in the US with participants aged 18 and over ( N = 3,738) revealed that participants’ tendency to feel younger increased with the emergence of the pandemic, and was predicted by the extent to which participants believed COVID-19 to be a threat to older adults ( Terracciano et al, 2020 ). This is indicative of a strategy to protect the self from negative information, such as stereotypes about ageing ( Weiss & Lang, 2012 ) and the threat of COVID-19, by feeling younger ( Terracciano et al, 2020 ).…”

“…The vulnerability narrative serves to strengthen younger people’s already negative age stereotypes of need and dependency ( Ayalon et al, 2020 ). In addition, motivation to maintain a positively distinct social identity could lead younger people to increase the psychological distance between themselves and older age groups, which have been stigmatized by the pandemic ( Terracciano et al, 2020 ). This has the potential to increase ageist views and lead to misunderstandings as well as reduced empathy and perspective taking, which can disrupt intergenerational cohesion ( Abrams et al, 2011 ).…”

Preventive Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Associations With Perceived Behavioral Control, Attitudes, and Subjective Norm

“…The present study is part of a larger survey project (31)(32)(33)(34). The original project aimed to investigate loneliness, personality, and health in late January 2020.…”

La edad de la población en la COVID-19: controversias socio-demográficas sobre un hecho común

“…La edad subjetiva se refiere a la imagen que la persona tiene de sí, para diferenciar su edad con respecto a la de otros (Abellán et al, 2017;Kotter-Grühn et al, Skirbekk et al, 2019;Terracciano et al, 2021), mientras la edad funcional pone el foco en los cambios en las capacidades funcionales (Ferraro, 2018;Skirbekk et al, 2019). En definitiva, la edad cronológica no es una herramienta única para la prognosis y el análisis en los estudios sociodemográficos y gerontológicos (Ayalon, 2020;Montero-Odasso et al, 2020), que tiende a ser superada como concepto analítico (Dulcey-Ruiz, 2015; Honoré, 2019) en otras aproximaciones.…”