Predicting daily fluctuations in multidimensional subjective age among adults aged 19 to 84 years

Bibliographic Data

ID17560266
AuthorsShally Zhou (0009-0006-5366-7943, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, corresponding author), Brooke Brady (0000-0002-6084-5027, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia), Lidan Zheng (0000-0002-8639-4279, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia), Shevaun D Neupert (0000-0001-5994-3060, North Carolina State University), Kaarin J Anstey (0000-0002-9706-9316, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia)
Year2026
Publication date2026-01-28
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Behavioral Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0165-0254 • E-ISSN: 1464-0651
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/01650254251413126
OpenAlexW7125905788
LanguageEN
References cited46

Subjective age—how old individuals feel, look, behave, think, identify based on interests, and wish to be—is a multidimensional construct linked to health and wellbeing. We examined whether stable (self-perceptions of aging, aging expectations) and daily (stress, affect) factors predict six subjective age dimensions: Felt, Look, Behave, Mental, Interest, and Ideal Ages. A community sample of 209 Australian adults (19–84 years; M age = 54.56, SD = 17.49; 64.59% female) completed two 7-day diary bursts 4 weeks apart, providing 2,385–2,419 observations collected near the end of COVID-19 restrictions. Multilevel models estimated between-person (stable) and within-person (daily) associations and tested moderation by chronological age. Between persons, lower positive affect was associated with older subjective age across all dimensions except Ideal Age. More negative self-perceptions of aging predicted older Ideal Age. Age moderated the relationship between self-perceptions of aging and Interest Age: negative self-perceptions were linked to younger Interest Ages, especially among older adults. Within persons, days with higher positive affect predicted feeling younger for all except Ideal Age, whereas higher negative affect predicted older Felt Age. On days with more stress, people reported older Felt, Mental, and Interest Ages. Findings support subjective age as a dynamic, multidimensional construct in understanding aging

Feeling · Moderation · Multilevel model · Older people · Subjective well-being · Aging and Gerontology Research · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Identity, Memory, and Therapy

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