Abstract

The present study was attempted to explore if subjective age could possibly be distinguished into two different dimensions, physical and mental, and to investigate the relations between each pattern of subjective age and chronological age. Four hundred and six participants from 15 to 80 years of age were asked about both physical and mental subjective age. There were no significant differences between physical and mental subjective ages in the total sample, whereas the 30s or 40s group showed different pattern of physical subjective age from that of mental subjective age. Participants in their teens held older both physical and mental subjective age than their chronological age, whereas during the early adults years, maintained same age identities, and across the middle addle and later adult years reported younger age identities. The age of turning point between older and younger age identity was slightly different by each pattern of subjective age-that of physical subjective age was 33, and mental subjective age 27.