How old are you?

As we age, we often do not feel as old as the years indicated on the calendar. Propensities to play down our biological age reflect a deep psychological truth.  

How old do you feel?

‘Subjective age’ is the term for how old one feels and can vary over time.  It is distinct from biological or chronological age, which is unwaveringly tied to our birthdate.  Midlife and older adults routinely report feeling 10 or 20 years younger than their biological age.  The discrepancy between subjective and biological age typically grows over the course of adult development. 

Feeling younger than one’s biological age is sign of health and predicts lower mortality, positive expectations, and better cognitive abilities.  Thus, feeling younger means doing better.

Typically, subjective age is assessed by asking persons how old they feel. This varies across life domains. 

In one study, it was found that subjective age was most different from chronological age for aspects of life in which negative stereotypes are greatest.  For example, we tend to think of older adults as less competent at work than younger adults.  And so in the domain of work, subjective age had a large difference from biological age.  

In contrast, subjective age was less different from chronological age for life domains in which we have less negative – or even – positive expectations about aging.  For leisure, subjective age and biological age were fairly close. 

Ideas about how old we feel may be determined – in part – by aging stereotypes, as well as being reflective of positive outcomes.  Thus, how old one feels may be a more important indicator of overall physical and mental health than biological age.