Self-Perceptions of Aging and Activity Engagement: Linking Positive and Negative Appraisals to Behavior

self-perceptions of aging;aging attitudes;adult development;activity engagement;subjective well-being;Health and Retirement Study;Psychology;Social Sciences;Psychology

Giasson, HannahGonzalez, Richard D ;

University of Michigan

关键词: self-perceptions of aging;    aging attitudes;    adult development;    activity engagement;    subjective well-being;    Health and Retirement Study;    Psychology;    Social Sciences;    Psychology;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/138787/giasson_1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

The importance of both self-perceptions of aging (SPA) and activity engagement for late life health and well-being have been well documented in the gerontological literature. Attitudes about aging have been found to predict cardiovascular health, cognitive and physical functioning, and even longevity. Engagement in cognitively and physically stimulating activities has also been identified as a key predictor of cognitive and physical health and well-being outcomes in late life. Several lifespan developmental theories offer frameworks for considering how individuals’ internal perceptions of their own developmental change map on to changes in behavior patterns across the life course. Additionally, Levy’s (2009) Age Stereotype Embodiment Theory highlights health behaviors as potential mechanisms through which aging attitudes influence health. Recent discussions about the multidimensionality of aging attitudes emphasize the need to consider that people may have positive attitudes about some aspects of becoming older and negative attitudes about other aspects. However, to date, relatively little research has explicitly examined linkages between positive and negative SPA and engagement in social, productive, and leisure activities of everyday life. In three distinct but linked papers, I use nationally representative data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), and data from a local sample of adults ages 50 and over, to examine this research gap.The first study examined whether positive and negative items of the brief HRS SPA measure show differential associations with psychosocial correlates and differential patterns across age groups over 50. Confirmatory factor analysis of HRS 2010 data (N = 7,190) revealed that a two-dimensional structure of SPA was a better representation of the eight-item HRS SPA measure than a unidimensional structure (replicated with HRS 2012 data; N = 5,963). Additionally, the positive and negative dimensions of SPA independently predicted other indicators of psychological functioning [positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA), life satisfaction, purpose in life, perceived control, optimism, and pessimism], and demonstrated distinct patterns of variation in mean levels across middle-age, young-old, and oldest-old age groups.The second study used HRS 2014 data (N = 6,524) to examine whether positive and negative dimensions of SPA differentially relate to activity participation and activity-related affect within a day, above and beyond sociodemographic, health, and trait-level affect covariates. Findings revealed that higher positive SPA were associated with a higher likelihood of exercising, and with a lower likelihood of watching TV, and with higher activity-related PA for each of the eight activities that were measured. Higher negative SPA were associated with a higher likelihood of engaging in health-related activities, and with lower PA while spending time alone, and with higher NA while watching TV, exercising, travelling, socializing, and spending time alone.The third study used a local sample (N = 123) to examine whether positive and negative SPA relate to individuals’ self-reported reasons for doing activities. Findings revealed that higher positive SPA were associated with having a lower proportion of externally-driven activities (e.g., someone else wanted me to) in a day, and higher negative SPA were associated with having a higher proportion of externally-driven activities in a day.Together these studies expand the literature by emphasizing the importance of examining outcomes associated with positive and negative dimensions of SPA separately, and by providinga first look at linkages between positive and negative SPA and proximal affective and motivational determinants of activity engagement within the context of a day.