AGE VARIATIONS IN COHORT DIFFERENCES IN PERCEIVED MASTERY AND CONSTRAINTS

Objectives: Lifespan research long acknowledged that individual functioning is shaped by historical and socio-cultural contexts. However, little is known about secular trends in perceptions of control. Methods: We compared data from independent national samples of the Midlife in the United States survey obtained 18 years apart (1995/96 vs. 2013/14) and identified case-matched cohorts (n per cohort=2,141, aged=23–75). We additionally examine the role of economic resources for cohort differences in perceived mastery and constraints. Results: Older adults nowadays report perceiving fewer constraints than did matched controls 18 years ago, with secular trends being particularly pronounced among women and people suffering from multiple diseases. Contrary, younger adults reported perceiving more constraints nowadays than those 18 years ago and also reported perceiving lower mastery nowadays. Discussion: We conclude that secular trends generalize to central psychosocial resources across adulthood such as perceptions of control but are not unanimously positive and discuss possible underlying mechanisms.