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The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences Advance Access published online on June 10, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, doi:10.1093/geronb/gbp046
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Age Identity, Gender, and Perceptions of Decline: Does Feeling Older Lead to Pessimistic Dispositions About Cognitive Aging?

Markus H. Schafer and Tetyana P. Shippee

Center on Aging and the Life Course, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

Address correspondence to Markus H. Schafer, MS, Center on Aging and the Life Course, Purdue University, Young Hall, 155 South Grant Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2114. Email: mhschafe{at}purdue.edu


  Abstract

Objectives: Drawing on past studies of age identity, this article examined whether feeling older was associated with more pessimistic views about cognitive aging.

Methods: Using respondents aged 55 years and older in the Midlife Development in the United States study, we estimated a series of linear regression models to predict people’s dispositions toward their cognitive aging. The main comparison is whether the effects of age identity on cognitive aging differ for men and women.

Results: Beyond the effects of chronological age, older age identities were associated with more pessimistic dispositions about cognitive aging. This relationship, however, was found only among women.

Discussion: Age identity shapes cognitive aging dispositions, though the gendered nature of this relationship remains somewhat unclear. The findings give further evidence about the far-reaching implications of age identity for successful aging and suggest that future work can explicate how subjective aging processes may differ by gender.

Key Words: Age identity • Cognitive aging • Cognitive decline • Gender • Subjective age

Received August 25, 2008; Accepted April 23, 2009

Decision Editor: Jacqueline Angel, PhD


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