Subjective Age at Work: Feeling Younger or Older Than One’s Actual Age Predicts Perceived Control and Motivation at Work

Abstract

Abstract Using a life-span theoretical perspective, the present study examined how subjective age relates to perceived control and motivational investment in the work domain. Data from the Midlife in the United States National Study of Health and Well-Being (MIDUS I, II, and III; 1995–2013; n = 2,395) were analyzed using parallel process growth curve modeling. Our analyses used a mediation framework and focused on how changes in subjective age relate to changes in work-specific perceived control and motivational investment over time. Results suggested that feeling progressively younger than one’s actual age predicted increased levels of perceived control over and motivational investment in one’s work situation, as mediated by domain-general perceived control capacity and selective primary control striving, respectively. Results are discussed within the motivational theory of life-span development, specifically, how subjective age operates as a secondary control strategy that enhances or diminishes motivational investment and perceived control in work during midlife.