AGE IDENTITY AS A SUBJECT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES

Abstract

The article provides a theoretical analysis of existing approaches to the concept of age identity of a person. An overview of the results of empirical studies of the age identity of representatives of different age groups is presented in the work. It is stated the age identity as a complex psychological phenomenon that reflects a set of different dimensions of a person's age. The processes of categorization and self-categorization play a leading role in the formation of age identity. A person's age identity directly reflects their own empirical experience of growing up and aging. The number of dimensions of age identity is represented in scientific literature by such parameters as "chronological age", "subjective age", "ideal age", identity with an age group, identity with a generation, "past self". Comparison processes are implemented by an individual in several directions: comparing oneself with the "average" representative of one's own age group; comparing oneself with stereotypical ideas about the representatives of one's generation, as a group of people who developed in a mutual historical and social context; comparison with real peers; comparison with oneself in the past. Individuals tend to have a more positive assessment of themselves and their condition compared to their peers. The difference between person`s subjective age and real age increases as an individual matures and ages. The older an individual is, the more dissatisfied them is with their age. The desire for a younger age identity and the ability to selectively identify with the positive characteristics of one's own age group, while avoiding the negative ones, performs an adaptive function, helping the individual to resist negative stereotypes about growing up and aging and to overcome possible age losses.