Cognitive age: demographic and psychographic dimensions.

This empirical study, based on a random self-report mail survey, explored perceptions of age among mature Americans aged 60+. Respondents were members of a systematic probability sample located in the Mid Atlantic region. Two inner-age dimensions were considered: the first, Cognitive Age, is a measure of self-perceived age and assesses a person's "actual" age-role self-concept; the second, entitled Youthfulness, is a new measure of youth scored by what percentage a respondent's Age-of-Birth is greater than his or her Cognitive Age (Chronological Age/Cognitive Age). The study first explored the relationships between the age variables, and then, through Multivariate Analyses of Variance (MANOVAs), the associations between four trait-sets (demographics, health, Quality of Life, and psychographic traits) and the two inner-age dimensions.