IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eujoag/v17y2020i4d10.1007_s10433-019-00529-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The uniqueness of subjective ageing: convergent and discriminant validity

Author

Listed:
  • Svenja M. Spuling

    (German Centre of Gerontology (DZA))

  • Verena Klusmann

    (University of Konstanz
    University of Hamburg)

  • Catherine E. Bowen
  • Anna E. Kornadt

    (Bielefeld University)

  • Eva-Marie Kessler

    (MSB Medical School Berlin)

Abstract

Although a large body of research has demonstrated the predictive power of subjective ageing for several decisive developmental outcomes, there remains some controversy about whether subjective ageing truly represents a unique construct. Thus, information about the convergent and discriminant validity of different approaches to measuring subjective ageing is still critically needed. Using data from the 2014 wave of the German Ageing Survey, we examined how three established subjective ageing measures (subjective age, global attitude toward own ageing, multidimensional ageing-related cognitions) were inter-related as well as distinct from general dispositions (optimism, self-efficacy) and well-being (negative affect, depressive symptoms, self-rated health). Using correlational and multivariate regression analysis, we found that the three subjective ageing measures were significantly inter-related (r = |.09| to |.30|), and that each measure was distinct from general dispositions and well-being. The overlap with dispositional and well-being measures was lowest for subjective age and highest for global attitudes towards own ageing. The correlation between global attitudes towards own ageing and optimism was particularly striking. Despite the high convergent validity of the different dimensions of ageing cognitions, we nevertheless observed stronger associations between specific dimensions of ageing cognitions with negative affect and self-rated health. We conclude that researchers should be aware of the multidimensional nature of subjective ageing. Furthermore, subjective age appears to be a highly aggregated construct and future work is needed to clarify its correlates and reference points.

Suggested Citation

  • Svenja M. Spuling & Verena Klusmann & Catherine E. Bowen & Anna E. Kornadt & Eva-Marie Kessler, 2020. "The uniqueness of subjective ageing: convergent and discriminant validity," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 445-455, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:17:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s10433-019-00529-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10433-019-00529-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10433-019-00529-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10433-019-00529-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Becca R. Levy & Martin D. Slade & Stanislav V. Kasl, 2002. "Longitudinal Benefit of Positive Self-Perceptions of Aging on Functional Health," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 57(5), pages 409-417.
    2. Allyson Brothers & Martina Miche & Hans-Werner Wahl & Manfred Diehl, 2017. "Examination of Associations Among Three Distinct Subjective Aging Constructs and Their Relevance for Predicting Developmental Correlates," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 72(4), pages 547-560.
    3. Julia K. Wolff & Benjamin Schüz & Jochen P. Ziegelmann & Lisa M. Warner & Susanne Wurm, 2017. "Short-Term Buffers, but Long-Term Suffers? Differential Effects of Negative Self-Perceptions of Aging Following Serious Health Events," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 72(3), pages 408-414.
    4. Hava Tovel & Sara Carmel & Victoria H Raveis, 2019. "Relationships Among Self-perception of Aging, Physical Functioning, and Self-efficacy in Late Life," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 74(2), pages 212-221.
    5. Susanne Wurm & Clemens Tesch-Römer & Martin J. Tomasik, 2007. "Longitudinal Findings on Aging-Related Cognitions, Control Beliefs, and Health in Later Life," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 62(3), pages 156-164.
    6. Jelena S Siebert & Hans-Werner Wahl & Johannes Schröder, 2018. "The Role of Attitude Toward Own Aging for Fluid and Crystallized Functioning: 12-Year Evidence From the ILSE Study," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 73(5), pages 836-845.
    7. Nardi Steverink & Gerben J. Westerhof & Christina Bode & Freya Dittmann-Kohli, 2001. "The Personal Experience of Aging, Individual Resources, and Subjective Well-Being," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 56(6), pages 364-373.
    8. Anna E. Kornadt & Peggy Voss & Klaus Rothermund, 2017. "Age Stereotypes and Self-Views Revisited: Patterns of Internalization and Projection Processes Across the Life Span," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 72(4), pages 582-592.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Muhammad Farhan Jalil & Wasim Ullah & Zeeshan Ahmed, 2021. "Training Perception and Innovative Behavior of SME Employees: Examining the Mediating Effects of Firm Commitment," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, December.
    2. Hongfan Zhang & Qurat Ul Ainn & Iram Bashir & Junaid Ul Haq & Mark A. Bonn, 2022. "Does Greenwashing Influence the Green Product Experience in Emerging Hospitality Markets Post-COVID-19?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qingxiu Dang & Baoshan Zhang, 2022. "Linkage from Self-Sacrifice to Hope Through the Intervening Roles of Perceived Family Support and Attitudes to Aging in Chinese Older Adults," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 2405-2426, August.
    2. Serena Sabatini & Obioha C. Ukoumunne & Allyson Brothers & Manfred Diehl & Hans-Werner Wahl & Clive Ballard & Rachel Collins & Anne Corbett & Helen Brooker & Linda Clare, 2022. "Differences in awareness of positive and negative age-related changes accounting for variability in health outcomes," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1087-1097, December.
    3. Anna E. Kornadt & Eva-Marie Kessler & Susanne Wurm & Catherine E. Bowen & Martina Gabrian & Verena Klusmann, 2020. "Views on ageing: a lifespan perspective," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 387-401, December.
    4. Verena Klusmann & Nanna Notthoff & Ann-Kristin Beyer & Anne Blawert & Martina Gabrian, 2020. "The assessment of views on ageing: a review of self-report measures and innovative extensions," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 403-433, December.
    5. Susanne Wurm & Maja Wiest & Julia K. Wolff & Ann-Kristin Beyer & Svenja M. Spuling, 2020. "Changes in views on aging in later adulthood: the role of cardiovascular events," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 457-467, December.
    6. Peggy Voss & Julia K. Wolff & Klaus Rothermund, 2017. "Relations between views on ageing and perceived age discrimination: a domain-specific perspective," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 5-15, March.
    7. Julia K. Wolff & Benjamin Schüz & Jochen P. Ziegelmann & Lisa M. Warner & Susanne Wurm, 2017. "Short-Term Buffers, but Long-Term Suffers? Differential Effects of Negative Self-Perceptions of Aging Following Serious Health Events," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 72(3), pages 408-414.
    8. Chien-Yao Sun & Chun-Yin Yeh & Yan Zhao & Ching-Ju Chiu, 2020. "Can Individual Attitudes toward Aging Predict Subsequent Physical Disabilities in Older Taiwanese Individuals? A Four-Year Retrospective Cohort Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-11, December.
    9. Anne Blawert & Susanne Wurm, 2021. "Shifting self-perceptions of ageing: differential effects of value priorities on self-perceptions of ageing beyond age stereotypes," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 257-267, June.
    10. Lena Spangenberg & Markus Zenger & Heide Glaesmer & Elmar Brähler & Bernhard Strauss, 2018. "Assessing age stereotypes in the German population in 1996 and 2011: socio-demographic correlates and shift over time," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 47-56, March.
    11. Deirdre A Robertson & George M Savva & Bellinda L King-Kallimanis & Rose Anne Kenny, 2015. "Negative Perceptions of Aging and Decline in Walking Speed: A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-17, April.
    12. Alaina N. English & Jennifer A. Bellingtier & Shevaun D. Neupert, 2019. "It’s “the Joneses”: the influence of objective and subjective socioeconomic status on subjective perceptions of aging," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 121-128, March.
    13. A. E. Burton & S. E. Dean & W. Demeyin & J. Reeves, 2021. "Questionnaire measures of self-directed ageing stereotype in older adults: a systematic review of measurement properties," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 117-144, March.
    14. Hanna Köttl & Ella Cohn-Schwartz & Liat Ayalon & Deborah S Carr, 2021. "Self-Perceptions of Aging and Everyday ICT Engagement: A Test of Reciprocal Associations [Risk profiles for mild cognitive impairment and progression to dementia are gender specific]," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 76(9), pages 1913-1922.
    15. Bach Q. Ho & Kunio Shirahada, 2022. "Older People’s Knowledge Creation Motivations for Sustainable Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    16. Sophie Haesen & Tenzin Wangmo & Bernice S. Elger, 2018. "Identity as an older prisoner: findings from a qualitative study in Switzerland," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 199-210, June.
    17. Alejandro Canedo-García & Jesús-Nicasio García-Sánchez, 2022. "Exploring the Instrumental and Emotional Supports for Sustainability and Social Participation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-16, August.
    18. Racheli-Lital Gvili & Ehud Bodner, 2021. "Ageist Attitudes Are Associated with Will-to-Live and Moderated by Age, Medical Conditions and Attitudes toward Aging," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-13, June.
    19. Sarah Asebedo & Patrick Payne, 2019. "Market Volatility and Financial Satisfaction: The Role of Financial Self-Efficacy," Journal of Behavioral Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 42-52, January.
    20. Allyson Brothers & Martina Miche & Hans-Werner Wahl & Manfred Diehl, 2017. "Examination of Associations Among Three Distinct Subjective Aging Constructs and Their Relevance for Predicting Developmental Correlates," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 72(4), pages 547-560.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:17:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s10433-019-00529-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.