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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Age identity and subjective well-being
— a comparison of the United States and Germany | | Author(s) | Gerben J Westerhof, Anne E Barrett |
| Journal title | Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, vol 60B, no 3, May 2005 |
| Pages | pp S129-S136 |
| Source | http://www.geron.org |
| Keywords | Ageing process ; Attitude ; Adjustment ; Well being ; Comparison ; United States of America ; Germany. |
| Annotation | The theoretical and empirical relationship between age identity and subjective well-being (SWB) is investigated in a cross-sectional context. Feeling younger than one's actual age is considered a self-enhancing illusion that contributes to SWB even beyond factors predicting age identities and SWB, such as health and socioeconomic status. As the US is more youth-oriented than Germany, age identities are expected to be more adaptive for American adults. Data are from respondents aged 40-74 who participated in the National Survey of Midlife Development in the US (n = 2,006) or the German Ageing Survey (n = 3,331). Analyses using the pooled sample reveal that feeling younger than one's actual age is related to higher levels of life satisfaction and positive affect and in lower levels of negative affect, even when controlling for sociodemographic variables. Country-specific analyses indicate that the relationship between age identity and negative affect holds only for the US. It is concluded that the cultural context needs to be included more explicitly in gerontological theories and research. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-051121208 A |
| Classmark | BG: DP: DR: D:F:5HH: 48: 7T: 767 |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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