Shifting self-perceptions of ageing: differential effects of value priorities on self-perceptions of ageing beyond age stereotypes

Anne Blawert,Susanne Wurm

doi:10.1007/s10433-020-00578-3

Abstract

Self-perceptions of ageing (SPA) are important predictors of health in later life. However, research on antecedents of SPA other than age stereotypes is scarce. To address this gap, this study investigates the impact of personal value priorities beyond age stereotypes on SPA. Can values as the motivational basis of attitudes and evaluations predict gain- and loss-related SPA? To answer this question, we conducted multiple regression analyses of longitudinal data from two waves (2008, 2011) of the German Ageing Survey (DEAS; N = 6089, age range in 2008: 40–93 years). Gain- and loss-related SPA as well as age stereotypes were assessed with two AgeCog scales and personal values with the 21-item Portrait Values Questionnaire. Results indicate that value priorities relate to SPA longitudinally in domain-specific ways: People with a value priority of openness to change and self-transcendence reported more gain-related SPA at follow-up, whereas those who prioritized conservation reported less gain-related SPA. In the domain of loss-related SPA, those people with a value priority of self-enhancement reported more and those prioritizing self-transcendence reported less loss-related SPA at follow-up. These results complement and extend recent findings on the role of personality for SPA. They suggest that whether people focus on the gains or losses that occur with age, whether they perceive ageing as a threat or chance, is not only shaped by their age stereotypes, but also by what they find important—their values.

Highlights

When you think about what is important to you, what springs to mind? Do you think you will still be able to reach your cherished goals when you are growing older? What people think about their own ageing, so-called self-perceptions of ageing (SPA) have been shown to predict a vast variety of outcomes such as health, well-being and even mortality
SPA cannot be equated with age stereotypes; self-perceptions are more strongly characterized by personal experiences, individual biographies and personality (Wurm et al 2017)
We investigated the differential effects of personal value priorities in a loss- and a gainrelated domain of SPA: The gain-related domain is that of ongoing psychological development

Summary

Introduction

When you think about what is important to you, what springs to mind? Do you think you will still be able to reach your cherished goals when you are growing older? What people think about their own ageing, so-called self-perceptions of ageing (SPA) have been shown to predict a vast variety of outcomes such as health, well-being and even mortality (for an overview see e.g. Westerhof and Wurm 2018; Wurm et al 2017). The role of age stereotypes for SPA “Old people are senile and inactive”–“old people are wise and share their life experience”. Societal age stereotypes impact personal age stereotypes directed at “the elderly”; with increasing age, these “other”-stereotypes become “self”-stereotypes when they are applied to oneself, turning into SPA. These SPA can develop into a self-fulfilling prophecy as people with negative SPA experience more negative outcomes with ageing (Wurm et al 2013). SPA cannot be equated with age stereotypes; self-perceptions are more strongly characterized by personal experiences, individual biographies and personality (Wurm et al 2017)

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