Title |
People over forty feel 20% younger than their age: Subjective age across the lifespan
|
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Published in |
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, October 2006
|
DOI | 10.3758/bf03193996 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
David C. Rubin, Dorthe Berntsen |
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. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 47 | 12% |
Spain | 20 | 5% |
United Kingdom | 18 | 5% |
Mexico | 12 | 3% |
Saudi Arabia | 9 | 2% |
Canada | 7 | 2% |
Argentina | 6 | 2% |
France | 4 | 1% |
India | 4 | 1% |
Other | 48 | 13% |
Unknown | 202 | 54% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 348 | 92% |
Scientists | 19 | 5% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 7 | 2% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 3 | <1% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 4 | 3% |
France | 1 | <1% |
Italy | 1 | <1% |
Slovenia | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 133 | 95% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 26 | 19% |
Student > Master | 20 | 14% |
Researcher | 14 | 10% |
Student > Bachelor | 11 | 8% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 10 | 7% |
Other | 33 | 24% |
Unknown | 26 | 19% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 56 | 40% |
Social Sciences | 18 | 13% |
Business, Management and Accounting | 8 | 6% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 5 | 4% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 4 | 3% |
Other | 15 | 11% |
Unknown | 34 | 24% |