Subjective age: a test of five hypotheses

Abstract

This paper discusses the concept and measurement of subjective age. Five hypotheses are proposed based on earlier studies of subjective age and tested using data from 607 randomly selected adults from five states. The data supported only two of the hypotheses: (1) the agreement between chronological age and subjective age declines steadily throughout the adult decades and (2) people in their 30s are the most likely to see themselves as different, either younger or older, from their chronological age. We conclude that generalizations about subjective age may depend on the subjects providing the data.