People over forty feel 20% younger than their age: Subjective age across the lifespan

Abstract

Subjective age-the age people think of themselves as being-is measured in a representative Danish sample of 1,470 adults between 20 and 97 years of age through personal, in-home interviews. On the average, adults younger than 25 have older subjective ages, and those older than 25 have younger subjective ages, favoring a lifespan-developmental view over an age-denial view of subjective age. When the discrepancy between subjective and chronological age is calculated as a proportion of chronological age, no increase is seen after age 40; older respondents feel 20% younger than their actual age. Demographic variables (gender, income, and education) account for very little variance in subjective age.

Emergence of entrepreneurial behaviour: The role of age-based self-image

“…Subjective age is included as a proportional discrepancy measure, defined as the difference between the respondent's chronological age and subjective age divided by chronological age (Rubin & Berntsen, 2006). Therefore, the higher the value of the subjective age variable, the younger the individual feels him or herself to be compared to their chronological age.…”

The Relationship Between Subjective Age and Some Sociodemographic Characteristics, Personality Traits and Health

“…Istraživanja pokazuju da većina odraslih, posebno u zapadnjačkim individualističkim kulturama, sebe doživljava mlađima u odnosu na kronološku dob te da razlika između subjektivne i kronološke dobi tijekom odrasle dobi s godinama raste (Barak, Mathur, Lee i Zhang, 2001;Barak i Stern, 1986;Degges-White i Myers, 2006;Hatta, Higashikawa i Hatta, 2010;Hubley i Hultsch, 1996;Kaufman i Elder, 2002;Keyes i Westerhof, 2012;Rubin i Bernsten, 2006;Uotinen, 1998;Westerhof i Barrett, 2005;Zupančič, Colnerič i Horvat, 2011). Čini se da se većina ljudi na prijelazu u odraslu dob u svojim 20-im godinama osjeća jednako starima ili nešto starijima, dok se oni stariji od 30 u pravilu osjećaju mlađima u odnosu na kronološku dob.…”

“…bračna, roditeljska) preuzmu ranije nego muškarci. Međutim, u većini istraži-vanja nisu utvrđene značajne rodne razlike u subjektivnoj dobi (Barak i sur., 2001;Henderson i sur., 1995;Rubin i Bernsten, 2006;Uotinen, 1998;Zupančič i sur., 2011). Rezultati istraži-vanja odnosa subjektivne dobi i obrazovanja nisu jednoznačni.…”

“…Rezultati istraži-vanja odnosa subjektivne dobi i obrazovanja nisu jednoznačni. Neki upućuju na nižu subjektivnu dob u obrazovanijih osoba (Barrett, 2003), dok neki nisu pokazali značajne razlike u subjektivnoj dobi s obzirom na obrazovnu razinu (Henderson i sur., 1995;Rubin i Bernsten, 2006;Zupančič i sur., 2011).…”

“…U skladu s rezultatima većine istraživanja (Barak i sur., 2001;Henderson i sur., 1995;Rubin i Bernsten, 2006;Uotinen, 1998;Zupančič i sur., 2011), i u ovome nisu utvrđene značajne rodne razlike u trima pokazateljima subjektivne dobi. To je suprotno očekivanjima mnogih autora da će žene, pod pritiskom imperativa da izgledaju mladoliko, posebno prisutnog u današnje vrijeme, a u želji da tako i izgledaju, doživljavati sebe mlađima.…”