Views of cognitive aging and their role in cognitive performance and psychological well-being in older adults

Subjective views of aging (VoA) refer to the beliefs and perceptions that individuals hold about aging and being older adults in general (also called “generalized VoA”), as well as about their own aging process (also called “personal VoA”). Both generalized and personal VoA have been shown to influence health and longevity in midlife and older adulthood. In addition to perceptions related to age-related changes in physiological, health and social domains, there are also perceptions and beliefs related to age-related cognitive changes with aging, which often play a crucial role in influencing cognitive functioning and psychological well-being in older age. The present thesis aimed to explore generalized and personal essentialist beliefs (i.e., the perception of cognitive aging as fixed) and non-essentialist beliefs (i.e., the perception of cognitive aging as malleable) with the Views of Cognitive Aging (VoCA) questionnaire, and their role in verbal working memory (WM), one of the mechanisms most sensitive to aging, and psychological well-being. Fifty healthy community-dwelling older adults aged 60 to 75 years completed the VoCA questionnaire, a verbal WM task, as well as a psychological well-being questionnaire. Results showed that generalized essentialist beliefs (the general perception of cognitive aging as fixed and inevitable decline) emerged as a significant positive predictor of verbal WM capacity. However, no significant relationships were found between personal VoA and verbal WM performance. Conversely, personal non-essentialist beliefs (perceiving one’s cognitive aging as malleable process) emerged as a positive and significant predictor of psychological well-being and also specifically correlated with the “emotional competencies” subscale. However, no significant associations emerged between VoCA and the “coping strategies” and “personal satisfaction” subscales. Furthermore, generalized essentialist VoCA were strongly and positively correlated with both essentialist and non-essentialist personal VoCA, while generalized non-essentialist VoCA were significantly correlated only with their personal counterpart. Chronological age was specifically associated with higher personal essentialist views. As for covariates, education, rather than age (which association was not significant), emerged as a significant predictor of WM capacity and cognitive inhibition. These findings suggest different associations between essentialist a non-essentialist VoCA with WM, cognitive functioning and psychological well-being. Promoting more accurate and malleable views of age-related cognitive changes may support and foster successful and healthy aging.