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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Validation of a Psychosocial Intervention on Body Image in Older People: An Experimental Design
Published on: May 31, 2021
When time is running out: changes in positive future perception and their relationships to changes in well-being in
Dana Kotter-Grühn1, Jacqui Smith
1Department of Psychology, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 7650, Raleigh, NC 27695-7650, USA. dkotter@ncsu.edu
Abstract:
How optimistically individuals view their future and what they expect from it has often been studied in younger adults. Less attention has been paid to future perceptions in older adults whose future is temporally limited. Using longitudinal data from the Berlin Aging Study, the authors examined whether future orientation and optimism change in older adults (70-104 years) and whether changes in future perception precede changes in well-being. With advancing age participants reported fewer future plans and less optimism. Those changes were related to changes in well-being with partial support for a lead-lag relationship.
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