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Age Identity and Subjective Well-Being: A Comparison of the United States and Germany

¹ Center for Psychogerontology, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
² Department of Sociology, Florida State University, Tallahassee.

Address correspondence to Gerben J. Westerhof, Center for Psychogerontology, University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500HE Nijmegen, the Netherlands. E-mail: g.westerhof{at}psych.ru.nl

Objectives. This article investigates the theoretical and empirical relationship between age identity and subjective well-being (SWB) in a cross-national context. Feeling younger than one's actual age is considered a self-enhancing illusion that contributes to SWB even beyond factors predicting age identities and SWB, such as health and socioeconomic status. As the United States is more youth oriented than Germany, age identities are expected to be more adaptive for American adults.

Methods. Data are from respondents between 40 and 74 years of age who participated in the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (N = 2,006) or the German Aging Survey (N = 3,331).

Results. Analyses using the pooled sample reveal that feeling younger than one's actual age is related to higher levels of life satisfaction and positive affect and to lower levels of negative affect, even when controlling for sociodemographic variables. Country-specific analyses indicate that the relationship between age identity and negative affect holds only for the United States.

Discussion. Age identities play a role in more varied aspects of psychosocial adaptation in the United States than in Germany. It is concluded that the cultural context needs to be included more explicitly in gerontological theories and research.