The Dynamic Interplay of Daily Uplifts and Stressors With Subjective Age

Negative experiences in daily life are related to feeling older, but the role of daily positive experiences for subjective age has rarely been investigated. Furthermore, the directionality of the relation between subjective age and daily experiences remains unclear. We thus investigated the dynamic interplay of daily subjective age and both daily stressors and uplifts. We hypothesized that the experience of daily stressors would be related to an older subjective age and daily uplifts to a younger subjective age. We also predicted reciprocal relations of stressors/uplifts and subjective age across days and addressed these questions using both a single item and a multidimensional operationalization of subjective age, asking about felt age in different domains.We used data from a daily diary study including N = 69 participants aged 52–75 years (M_{age<\sub> = 62.72, SD = 5.57, 58% women) who reported on their subjective age, daily stressors, and uplift experiences on 14 consecutive days. Dynamic structural equation models showed a differentiated picture: More uplifts were related to a younger subjective age within and between persons. Reporting more uplifts than usual on a given day predicted a younger subjective age than usual on the next day and vice versa, albeit the latter effect was only significant for the multidimensional operationalization. Surprisingly, stressors were unrelated to subjective age. The findings emphasize the importance of uplifts for daily aging experiences and provide empirical evidence for the conceptualization of subjective age as both a product and a driver of daily experiences in later life.Public Significance Statement Our study investigated the interplay of both daily positive and negative experiences with daily subjective age. In a 14-day daily diary study with middle-aged and older adults, we found that daily positive experiences on one day can make people feel younger on the next day, while feeling younger can also increase subsequent positive experiences. These insights can inform interventions aimed at improving the aging experience of middle-aged and older adults.}