TY - JOUR
T1 - Associations among individuals' perceptions of future time, individual resources, and subjective well-being in old age
AU - Hoppmann, Christiane A.
AU - Infurna, Frank
AU - Ram, Nilam
AU - Gerstorf, Denis
N1 - Funding Information:
This article reports data from the Berlin Aging Study (BASE; www.base-berlin.mpg.de). The BASE was initiated by the late Paul B. Baltes, in collaboration with Hanfried Helmchen, psychiatry; Elisabeth Steinhagen-Thiessen, internal medicine and geriatrics; and Karl Ulrich Mayer, sociology. Financial support came from the Max Planck Society; the Free University of Berlin; the German Federal Ministry for Research and Technology (1989-1991, 13 TA 011 + 13 TA 011/A); the German Federal Ministry for Family, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth (1992-1998, 314-1722-102/9 + 314-1722-102/9a); and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences' Research Group on Aging and Societal Development (1994 -1999). The HRS study was supported by a cooperative agreement (Grant No. UO1 AG09740) between the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the University of Michigan. C. Hoppmann gratefully acknowledges the support of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and the Canada Research Chairs program. N. Ram and D. Gerstorf gratefully acknowledge the support provided by the National Institute on Health (RC1 AG035645, R21 AG032379, R24 HD041025, and UL TR000127). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved.
PY - 2017/5/1
Y1 - 2017/5/1
N2 - Objectives: Perceptions of future time are of key interest to aging research because of their implications for subjective well-being. Interestingly, perceptions about future time are only moderately associated with age when looking at the second half of life, pointing to a vast heterogeneity in future time perceptions among older adults. We examine associations between future time perceptions, age, and subjective well-being across two studies, including moderations by individual resources. Method: Using data from the Berlin Aging Study (N = 516; Mage = 85 years), we link one operationalization (subjective nearness to death) and age to subjective well-being. Using Health and Retirement Study data (N = 2,596; Mage = 77 years), we examine associations of another future time perception indicator (subjective future life expectancy) and age with subjective well-being. Results: Consistent across studies, perceptions of limited time left were associated with poorer subjective well-being (lower life satisfaction and positive affect; more negative affect and depressive symptoms). Importantly, individual resources moderated future time perception - subjective well-being associations with those of better health exhibiting reduced future time perception - subjective well-being associations. Discussion: We discuss our findings in the context of the Model of Strength and Vulnerability Integration.
AB - Objectives: Perceptions of future time are of key interest to aging research because of their implications for subjective well-being. Interestingly, perceptions about future time are only moderately associated with age when looking at the second half of life, pointing to a vast heterogeneity in future time perceptions among older adults. We examine associations between future time perceptions, age, and subjective well-being across two studies, including moderations by individual resources. Method: Using data from the Berlin Aging Study (N = 516; Mage = 85 years), we link one operationalization (subjective nearness to death) and age to subjective well-being. Using Health and Retirement Study data (N = 2,596; Mage = 77 years), we examine associations of another future time perception indicator (subjective future life expectancy) and age with subjective well-being. Results: Consistent across studies, perceptions of limited time left were associated with poorer subjective well-being (lower life satisfaction and positive affect; more negative affect and depressive symptoms). Importantly, individual resources moderated future time perception - subjective well-being associations with those of better health exhibiting reduced future time perception - subjective well-being associations. Discussion: We discuss our findings in the context of the Model of Strength and Vulnerability Integration.
KW - Future time perception
KW - Old age
KW - Well-being
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U2 - 10.1093/geronb/gbv063
DO - 10.1093/geronb/gbv063
M3 - Article
C2 - 26437862
AN - SCOPUS:85019658595
SN - 1079-5014
VL - 72
SP - 388
EP - 399
JO - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
JF - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
IS - 3
ER -