Subjective social status, objective socioeconomic status, and memory aging

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundMemory aging is a heterogeneous process. Many research efforts have been made to explore what might “slow down” memory aging. The present study examined how subjective social status and objective socioeconomic status may be protective for memory aging in normal adults.MethodWe recruited 272 participants (aged 20‐70 yrs old) online using MTurk, and measured their memory performance using a newly developed task that examines multiple domains of visual memory. During this task (Fig. 1), participants viewed and made judgements of pictures depicting an object in a scene and later completed a surprise recognition test where they indicated if they remember seeing the identical picture earlier. In the recognition test, some pictures were the exact pictures presented earlier; some were lures that had a different object, a different scene, or a different spatial relation of the object to the scene; and some were completely new pictures. We measured memory performance based on participant’s response accuracy. We additionally collected information on participants’ subjective social status (using the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status), education, occupation class, and individual and household income.ResultAs expected, increasing age was related to worse memory performance. Importantly, subjective social status moderated the aging effect on memory: people who rated their social status to be higher (top 40%) did not show the typical age‐related decrease in memory (Fig. 2a). Higher household income was also associated with slower memory aging: people who reported having higher household income (>$75,000) did not show an age‐related memory decrease (Fig. 2b). Education and occupation, however, did not moderate memory aging. Finally, we found the moderating effects of subjective social status and income were interactive: higher income was associated with less memory aging in people with low subjective social status, while higher subjective social status was associated with less memory aging for people with low income (Fig. 2c).ConclusionSubjective beliefs of having a high social position and objectively having a high income are two factors that may “slow down” memory aging. They work together in a way where one protects when the other fails to do so.