Psychological age

Psychological age is a subjective self perception of own age. In other words, is how old someone feels, behaves and act. The psychological age do not have to be equal chronological age, which is age since birth.

For example, in many case people who be 70 years old feels himself like they be 40 years old, or even 20 years old. The difference between chronological age (calendar age) and the psychological age (age at which one feels) is crucial from the point of view of both building target groups for marketing and human resource management processes. In James E. Birren studies concept of psychological age is wider and holistic. In one hand he agrees that psychological age is correlated with biological and social age, but in the other hand psychological age is concept which include "use of adaptive capacities of memory, learning, intelligence, skills, feelings, motivations, and emotions for exercising behavioral control or self-regulation.".

Age concept of workers

To understand why psychological age is so important to indicate, we should take a wider look by five different approaches to conceptualize aging of workers presented by Sterns and Doverspike:

1. Chronological age refers to one's calendar age. In this case, we distinguish between employees due to their calendar age. Although the term young employee and senior employee are very fluid, it is indicated that older employees can specify people even from the age of 40 to people over 75 years of age and older.
2. Functional or performance-based age. The basis for determining this type of age is the employee's performance in the perspective of differentiating between different levels of ability to perform tasks and functioning at different ages. With the increase of the calendar age after reaching a certain ceiling, the motor, cognitive or psychophysical abilities of the employee start to decrease directly affecting its performance.
3. Psychosocial or subjective age it is a subjective view of how old you are, what age group you are identifying with and how old you want to be. The social conditioning and perception of a given age is important here in terms of self-identification of one's own age. Depending on the attitudes and behaviors displayed, the employee can be assigned and classified in a given age category. The same relationship that he builds with other employees shows how old he wants to be taken and how many years he feels. In addition, social norms prevailing in a given group of employees and their perception of the moment when someone begins to be treated and behaves like an old person.
4. Organizational age is the aging of people in the workplace through the angle of seniority and organizational workflow. It may also refer to the employee's career stage and the age standards prevailing in the organization.
5. The life span concept of age has much in common in the above-presented approaches, drawing from the point of view of the age. What distinguishes this approach is the possibility of behavioral change in every moment of life. "This behavioral change may be affected by three sets of factors: normative, age-graded biological, and/or environmental determinants, which are strongly related to age; normative, history-graded influences, which are related to the age-cohort, and non-normative unique career and life changes. To capture the unique impact of the life span approach, life span age can best be measured by life stage or family status.".

Measuring of age

When we think about measuring age first think about ask someone "How old are you?" or "What is the date of your birth?" but in case of different approaches of age, we can notice it is not enough. Of course, on the one hand, these questions must be asked, because the chronological age is an inseparable element of other age concepts, on the other hand, they are not enough. As the age grows, the variable of the calendar age may become less and less important. Significance, on the other hand, is gained by other approaches such as the approach to psychological age. This should be taken into account in marketing activities as well as human resource management.

Examples of Psychological age

• A 40-year-old man who is young at heart and loves activities such as playing video games and skateboarding. He has a psychological age that is much younger than his chronological age.
• A 25-year-old woman who is a successful businesswoman and has a very mature outlook on life. She has a psychological age that is older than her chronological age.
• A 10-year-old boy who is very mature for his age and takes on adult responsibilities. He has a psychological age that is older than his chronological age.
• A 70-year-old woman who has a very active lifestyle and loves to travel. She has a psychological age that is younger than her chronological age.

Advantages of Psychological age

Psychological age has several advantages. *It can provide insight into personal development, maturity and life experience, allowing individuals to recognize their strengths and weaknesses and make informed decisions about their lifestyle. *It can also provide a sense of control over one's life and help people to create meaningful goals and plans for the future. *By taking into account one's psychological age, it is possible to identify areas in which one may need to develop in order to achieve greater happiness and fulfillment. *It can also help people to better understand their relationships with others, which can lead to better communication and healthier relationships.

Limitations of Psychological age

Psychological age has some limitations:

• It is a subjective self-perception, and therefore can be influenced by personal feelings and emotions. It is difficult to measure objectively and accurately.
• It is also difficult to compare psychological age between different individuals, as it can vary greatly from person to person.
• Psychological age can change over time, depending on life experiences, age and other factors.
• Psychological age can be affected by physical health, as well as mental and emotional health.
• It can also be influenced by environmental factors, such as the people and places around us.

Other approaches related to Psychological age

Psychological age is not only a subjective self perception of own age but also involves many other components. Some of the other approaches related to psychological age include:

• Cognitive age, which is the level of mental and analytical skills a person has developed over time. It is often measured by tests such as IQ tests.
• Emotional age, which is the level of emotional maturity a person has developed over time. It is often measured by tests such as personality tests.
• Social age, which is the level of social skills a person has developed over time. It is often measured by tests such as social skills tests.
• Spiritual age, which is the level of spiritual awareness a person has developed over time. It is often measured by tests such as spiritual intelligence tests.

In summary, psychological age involves many other components such as cognitive, emotional, social and spiritual age. These components are often measured by tests in order to determine a person's psychological age.

Footnotes

Psychological age — recommended articles

Thomas International method — Attitudes and behaviour — Belbin team roles — Central traits — Social Style — Marston model — Predictive Index System — Internal motivation — Behavioral theory

References

• Birren J.E., Cunningham W.R. (1985), Research on the psychology of aging: principles, concepts and theory. In Handbook of Aging and Psychology, JE Birren, KW Schaie, New York.
• Birren J.E., Deutchman D.E. (1991), Guiding the Autobiography Group for Older Adults: Exploring the Fabric of Life, Johns Hopkins University Press, London.
• Infeld D.L. (2002), Sociology of aging: disciplinary approaches to aging, Taylor & Francis, New York, p.330.
• Kitheka M. (2013), Influence of job level and chronological age on motivation of employees at The Kenya Utalii Hotel, University of Nairobi, Nairobi.
• Kooij D., Lange de A., Jansen P., Dikkers J. (2008), Older workers’ motivation to continue to work: five meanings of age, "Journal of Managerial Psychology", Vol. 23, No. 4.
• Lange de A., Taris T., Jansen P., Smulders P., Houtman I., Kompier M. (2006), Age as a factor in the relation between work and mental health: results from the longitudinal TAS study, "Occupational health psychology: European perspectives on research", Vol. 1.
• Petery G.A. (2015), The moderating role of chronological age on the relationship between psychological age and facets of health: a longitudinal analysis, University of Connecticut, Storrs.
• Settersten R.A., Mayer J.K.U. (1997), The measurement of age, age structuring, and the life course, "Annual Review of Sociology", Vol. 23.
• Staudinger U.M. (2015), Images of aging outside and inside perspectives, "Annual review of gerontology and geriatrics", Vol. 35, No.1.
• Sterns H.L., Doverspike D. (1989), Aging and the retraining and learning process in organizations, "Training and Development in Work Organizations", Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
• SternsH.L., Miklos S.M. (1995), The aging worker in a changing environment: organizational and Individual Issues, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol. 47, No. 3.
• Uotinen V. (2005), I’m as old as I feel Subjective age in finnish adults, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä.
• Witkowski S.A., Bogna B. (2017), Psychological and organisational aspects of age management in organisations, "Management", Vol.21 No.1.

Author: Gabriela Lupa