Influence of Multiple Age Identities on Social Comparison, Body Satisfaction, and Appearance Self‐Discrepancy for Women across the Life Span

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how multiple age identities—chronological, ideal, and feel ages—influence social comparison with media images, body satisfaction, and appearance self‐discrepancy. Building on the possible selves theory that a closer approximation between chronological age and subjective ages—ideal age and feel age—occurs over time, a conceptual model was tested to identify individual variations of age identities and self‐perceptions to body image across the life span. A convenience sample of 279 women between the ages of 30 and 80 years completed the survey at several women's philanthropic and social organizations. Findings indicated that ideal age, rather than chronological age and feel age, played a more important role in influencing participants' perceptions of body and social comparison as their age identities changed. The findings highlight the significance of multiple age identities in predicting social comparison behavior and body image among women across the life span.