Feeling Young and in Control: Daily Control Beliefs Are Associated With Younger Subjective Ages

Abstract

Abstract Objectives Daily variations in control beliefs are associated with developmental outcomes. We predicted that on days when older adults feel more in control than their personal average, they would also report feeling younger, and explored the relationship in younger adults. Method A total of 116 older and 107 younger adults completed a 9-day daily diary study. On Day 1 participants reported on demographic variables. On Days 2–9, participants reported their daily subjective age, daily control beliefs, daily stressors, and daily physical health symptoms. All measures were completed online via Qualtrics. Results were analyzed using multilevel models. Results Controlling for age, gender, education, daily stressors, daily physical health, and average control, there was a significant main effect of daily control beliefs on daily subjective age. Older adults felt significantly younger on days with a greater sense of control than usual, but this effect was absent in younger adults. For younger adults, average exposure to daily stressors and daily fluctuations in physical health were better predictors of daily subjective age. Discussion These findings suggest that higher daily control is associated with younger subjective ages in older adults, whereas other factors may play a more central role in the daily variations of younger adults’ subjective ages.