Health-related possible selves in young and middle adulthood.
Psychology and AgingPublished 1 January 1994
Karen Hooker, Cheryl R. Kaus
Citations132
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.58
SNIP1.45
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TL;DR
Data showed that health-related possible selves become predominant in midlife, and both young and middle-aged adults reported more feared than hoped-for selves in the realm of health.
Abstract
The construct of possible selves was used to examine when, in the adult life span, health-related goals become dominant. It was predicted that by middle age most adults would have health-related possible selves and that the strength of self-regulatory variables associated with health-related possible selves would be related to reported health behaviors. Data collected from 171 young and middle-aged adults showed that health-related possible selves become predominant in midlife. In addition, both young and middle-aged adults reported more feared than hoped-for selves in the realm of health. Perceived self-efficacy and number of goal-oriented activities to avoid feared health-relevant selves were significant predictors of health behaviors. Results are discussed in relation to theoretical perspectives on self and health processes over the life span.
Keywords
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