Despite much literature pointing to the saliency of self-perceptions of aging (SPA) to aging processes, limited research offers empirical analysis on what shapes SPA. In order to identify possible antecedents to SPA, we conducted an exploratory analysis to analyze whether two future-oriented constructs—optimism and self-efficacy associated with possible selves—were associated with SPA. We ran hierarchical linear regressions, with optimism and self-efficacy of possible selves predicting SPA among 244 middle-aged and older adults. Higher optimism, higher self-efficacy to achieve hoped-for selves, and higher self-efficacy to avoid feared selves were associated with higher overall SPA. Results from our study suggest that how someone appraises their future older self impacts how they perceive their current older self.

尽管有很多文献指出衰老的自我感知 (SPA) 对衰老过程的显着性，但有限的研究提供了关于 SPA 的形成因素的实证分析。为了确定 SPA 的可能前因，我们进行了一项探索性分析，以分析两种面向未来的结构——乐观主义和与可能的自我相关的自我效能感——是否与 SPA 相关。我们对 244 名中老年人进行了分层线性回归，可能的自我乐观和自我效能感预测了 SPA。更高的乐观度、更高的自我效能来实现希望的自我，以及更高的自我效能来避免恐惧的自我与更高的整体 SPA 相关。我们的研究结果表明，人们如何评价未来的老年自我会影响他们对当前老年自我的看法。