Despite rapid increase of people aged 80 and over, concepts of successful ageing (SA) are primarily examined for people below that age. Therefore, successful ageing was examined in a population-based representative sample of N = 1863 people aged 80 to 102 (NRW80+) with 11% living in institutionalized settings. In this survey on quality of life and well-being, multiple linear and logistic regression models were used to calculate the distribution of successful agers. According to Rowe and Kahn’s objective definition, 9% of the sample aged successfully, but one-third (33%) still met four to five SA criteria. This is in line with the theoretical a priori criterion of 10% in a normal distribution of a sample, while 80% age normally and 10% pathologically. However, averages of life satisfaction, affective well-being, positive ageing experience and valuation of life were high. The majority of the oldest old (65%) are successful agers in their own subjective perception, which is not in line with objective measurements. Moreover, 11% of objectively measured successful agers do not meet subjective criteria. These empirical findings reveal a remarkable discrepancy between objective and subjective criteria of SA. Future research on concepts that define successful ageing for the oldest old should consider more holistic markers of success, e.g., outcomes of productive social engagement.

尽管 80 岁及以上的人迅速增加，但成功老龄化 (SA) 的概念主要针对该年龄以下的人进行检查。因此，成功老龄化在N的基于人口的代表性样本中进行了检查 = 1863 名 80 至 102 岁的人（NRW80+），其中 11% 生活在机构化环境中。在这项关于生活质量和幸福感的调查中，使用多元线性和逻辑回归模型来计算成功年龄的分布。根据 Rowe 和 Kahn 的客观定义，9% 的样本成功老化，但三分之一 (33%) 仍符合四到五个 SA 标准。这与样本正态分布中 10% 的理论先验标准一致，而 80% 的年龄正常，10% 的病理年龄。然而，生活满意度、情感幸福感、积极的老龄化经历和对生活的评价的平均值很高。大多数最年长的老年人（65%）在他们自己的主观感知上是成功的老年人，这与客观测量不符。而且，11% 客观衡量的成功年龄不符合主观标准。这些实证结果揭示了 SA 的客观和主观标准之间的显着差异。未来关于定义老年人成功老龄化的概念的研究应该考虑更全面的成功标志，例如生产性社会参与的结果。