The present study examined time-related change in felt age, physical age, and satisfaction with aging in old age and covariates of this change. Using 6-year-longitudinal data from the Berlin Aging Study (age range = 70-104 years), we found that individuals' felt age remained on average about 13 years below their actual age over time, whereas they reported a decreasing discrepancy between physical and actual age and a decrease in aging satisfaction over time. After we controlled for level differences, a differential pattern of individual differences in change appeared for the three dimensions: Age contributed to a greater decline in aging satisfaction but an increase in the discrepancy of felt age. A higher number of illnesses at baseline attenuated change in felt age discrepancy. Future research on change of self-perceptions of aging will provide insight into mechanisms of resilience of the aging self in later life. Copyright 2008 by The Gerontological Society of America.
CITATION STYLE
Kleinspehn-Ammerlahn, A., Kotter-Grühn, D., & Smith, J. (2008). Self-perceptions of aging: Do subjective age and satisfaction with aging change during old age? Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 63(6). https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/63.6.P377
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