TY - JOUR AU - Brochu, Paula AU - Stripling, Ashley AU - Arguelles-Borge, Soledad AU - Alfaro, Ana Jessica PY - 2019 DA - 2019/03/29 TI - <b>The Positive Power of Perception in Late Life: A Study on Subjective Aging and Health among Ethnic Minorities</b> JO - OBM Geriatrics SP - 043 VL - 03 IS - 01 AB - The main objective of this empirical study was to investigate subjective aging in late life among ethnic minorities in the United States. Specifically, this study examined age identity, or how old one feels, in relation to psychological well-being (PWB) and functional health. The aims were trifold: (1) To examine whether this population feels younger or older than their age identity; (2) to explore the associations between age, age identity, PWB, and functional health; and (3) to investigate whether the association between age identity and functional health was mediated by psychological well-being. Results indicated the sampled population predominately reported a positive age identity, that is, felt younger than their actual age with higher age related to great discrepancy between felt and actual age. Although, there were no differences in aging identity among specific ethnic backgrounds nor levels of education., gender-related differences were found with men feeling younger than women. Another key finding was that positive age identity predicted higher levels of psychological well-being and functional health. Additionally, age and gender were also predictive of functional health but not of PWB. Lastly, mediation analysis revealed that PWB mediated the association between age identity and functional health, even while controlling for age and gender. These findings contribute to the literature by extending previous research on subjective aging and health to ethnic minorities. Moreover, these results have clinical and research implications for professionals in the field of geriatrics. SN - 2638-1311 UR - https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.geriatr.1901043 DO - 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1901043 ID - Brochu2019 ER -