How to Age More Positively? Analyzing Determinants that Shape Attitudes Towards Aging

Abstract

A considerable amount of research has illustrated that negative attitudes toward one’s own aging can directly hinder mental and physical well-being or lead to maladjustment in later stages of life (Swift et al. in Social Issues Policy Rev 11(1):195–231, https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12031, 2017). Research so far has focused on the analysis of individual factors related to attitudes toward aging, often related to personality traits. Our study proposes and tests a model of positive contact with aging (PCA). It analyses both individual and social antecedents of attitudes towards one’s own aging, hypothesizing that individual health self-efficacy directly affects attitudes towards one’s own aging and that the quality and quantity of contact with older adults indirectly impacts on attitudes towards one’s own aging through attitudes towards older adults. The model was tested in a wide sample of the Italian population (N = 753) with a varied age range. The PCA model tested showed excellent fit to the data, explaining a moderate amount of variance in attitudes toward one’s own aging (12%). This model promises to offer implications for active policies that can improve attitudes towards one’s own aging, promoting educational strategies to increase intergenerational exchanges and foster health-related self-efficacy.