Longitudinal changes in subjective social status are linked to changes in positive and negative affect in midlife, but not in later adulthood.

Abstract

Subjective social status is defined as the perceived social standing of a person in a social hierarchy and may change across time. Although the link between subjective social status and well-being is widely recognized, the dynamic nature of changes in subjective social status across the life span is not well understood. We predicted that gains and losses in subjective social status will be associated with changes in positive and negative affect over time. This link should be particularly evident in middle adulthood because the desire for social status might be more important in midlife than in later adulthood. Specifically, we argue that social status gains in midlife may facilitate generativity, a developmental task in this period of the life span that arguably contributes not only to the well-being of others but also oneself. Our analyses of a 10-year longitudinal study (N = 2,306, 40-84 years at T1) using latent change score models suggested that individuals, who lose (or gain) social status (i.e., change their perceived position on the social status ladder), experience an increase (decrease) in negative affect and a decrease (increase) in positive affect. As predicted, these associations were stronger, and in fact only significant, for middle-aged (40-64 years), but not older (65-84 years) adults. Finally, in middle-aged adults, the effects of status changes on changes in affective well-being were mediated by generativity. This pattern of findings suggests that changes in subjective social status are more self-relevant in midlife and may become less relevant to affective well-being as people age. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).