title: People over forty feel 20% younger than their age: subjective age across the lifespan.
abstract: Subjective age--the age people think of themselves asbeing--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.
authors.affiliation: Psychological and Brain Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0086, USA. david.rubin@duke.edu
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Rubin
authors.forename: Dorthe
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Berntsen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003717:Denial, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011936:Reality Testing; D012649:Self Concept; D012718:Set, Psychology; D013548:Sweden