%0 Journal Article %J European Journal of Ageing %D 2017 %T Accelerated increase and relative decrease in subjective age and changes in attitudes toward own aging over a 4-year period: results from the Health and Retirement Study %A Ehud Bodner %A Liat Ayalon %A Sharon Avidor %A Yuval Palgi %K Aging %K Cognitive Ability %K Health Conditions and Status %K Older Adults %K Self-reported health %X The passage of time may force people to adjust their subjective age in response to changes in their attitudes toward own aging (ATOA). Although positive associations have been found between well-being and both positive ATOA and younger subjective age, the relationships between changes in these measures have not been examined yet. We expected (1) a decrease in positive ATOA to be associated with an accelerated increase in subjective age and (2) an increase in positive ATOA to be associated with a relative decrease in subjective age. Participants were individuals and their spouses, aged 50 and over, recruited by the Health and Retirement Study, who provided responses to a question concerning one’s subjective age in 2008 and 2012 (n = 4174). A change in subjective age over the two waves was regarded as (1) an accelerated increase if it was greater than 5 years (36.2 % of the sample); (2) a relative decrease (39.1 %), if it was less than the 3 years; (3) no change if it did not comply with criteria 1 or 2 (24.7 %). A decrease in positive ATOA over the two waves resulted in an accelerated increase in subjective age, and an increase resulted in a relative decrease in subjective age. Older age and more physical impairments and depressive symptoms in 2012 compared with 2008 were associated with an accelerated increase in subjective age. Our findings emphasize the consequences ATOA might have on subjective age experiences, and the need to improve them. %B European Journal of Ageing %V 14 %P 17-27 %G eng %U http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10433-016-0383-2http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10433-016-0383-2http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10433-016-0383-2.pdfhttp://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10433-016-0383-2/fulltext.html %N 1 %! Eur J Ageing %R 10.1007/s10433-016-0383-2 %0 Journal Article %J The Journal of Positive Psychology %D 2017 %T Changes in positive and negative affect as predictors of change in felt age: Results from the Health and Retirement Study %A Yuval Palgi %A Liat Ayalon %A Sharon Avidor %A Ehud Bodner %K Aging %K Mood %K Older Adults %K Perception %K Self-reported health %X The present study aimed to examine how changes in positive and negative affect and their interaction predict changes in felt age in a longitudinal design of two waves drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Participants (n = 4174) at an average age of 67.97 completed the 2008 and 2012 left behind questionnaire of the HRS. Our results showed that an increase in positive affect and a decrease in negative affect from Wave 1 to Wave 2 predicted an accelerated decrease in felt age. There was an interaction effect showing that for those with an increase in negative affect, a higher change in positive affect predicted reduced odds for accelerated increase in felt age. To conclude, improving favorable change in the combination between positive and negative affect might in turn relate to the individual’s self-perceptions of aging, in the second half of life. %B The Journal of Positive Psychology %V 12 %P 605-612 %G eng %U https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17439760.2016.1221121 %N 6 %! The Journal of Positive Psychology %R 10.1080/17439760.2016.1221121