How Beliefs About Ageing Shape Learning: Self-Perceptions of Aging and Learning Engagement in Older Adulthood.

Self-perceptions of aging (SPA) refer to an individual's expectations, attitudes, experiences, and perceptions of growing older (Diehl & Wahl, 2024). To explain how SPA impacts development in older adults, Diehl and Wahl (2010) proposed a framework that situates the concept within the larger developmental context. In their model, antecedents to SPA, how these perceptions are processed by the individual, as well as the consequences of SPA, are outlined. Importantly, Diehl and Wahl discuss that antecedents and different processing modes contribute to the effect of SPA by working as mediators or moderators. The authors also indicate that the consequences of SPA could feed back onto antecedents or processing modes, which subsequently shape outcomes of SPA, highlighting a circular model (Diehl & Wahl, 2024). The subjective experience of growing older has been conceptualized in different ways. One such approach is the concept of awareness of age-related change (AARC), which refers to the conscious recognition by the individual that their experience of the world has changed due to aging (Diehl &Wahl, 2010). Building upon the Life-Span Developmental Theory (Baltes et al., 2006), this concept incorporates the idea that human development encompasses gains and losses that can be experienced in different domains. According to Diehl and Wahl (2010; 2024), this age-related change can be observed in five domains, including (1) health and physical functioning; (2) cognitive functioning; (3) interpersonal relationships; (4) social cognitive and social-emotional functioning; and (5) lifestyle and engagement. Based on Diehl and Wahls framework (2010), engagement with life has been proposed as one of the major developmental outcomes impacted by SPA. In this study, learning engagement is conceptualized as a form of such engagement, referring to participation in cognitively and/or physically stimulating activities. A systematic review by Tully-Wilson et al. (2021) reported positive correlations between positive SPA and health outcomes, including better physical and mental health, increased physical activity, and increased activities of daily living. Thus, based on the model by Diehl and Wahl (2010) and previous research, the present study hypothesizes that more positive SPA will be positively associated with learning engagement, whereas more negative SPA will be negatively associated with learning engagement. Informed by the framework of Diehl and Wahl (2010), the present study tests two models. In the first model, health is conceptualized as a distal antecedent that influences engagement with life, which here is conceptualized as learning engagement. According to Diehl and Wahl (2010), health status is expected to influence the individual's experience of aging. This by proposing poor health to likely be associated with more negative age-related experiences, whereas good health likely is associated with more positive age-related experiences. Health may exert a direct effect on learning engagement, but it may also influence engagement indirectly through SPA as a mediator. Therefore, the first model will test the direct effect of health on learning engagement, and the indirect effect of health on learning engagement through SPA. In the framework, it is further proposed that SPA may give rise to different types of psychological and behavioral processes, summarized as personal meaning-making and regulation of behavior. These processes include temporal comparisons with one's past performance and social comparison with others, which may lead to adjustments of goals and efforts to remain a coherent and positive sense of self. In the present study, these processes are operationalized through learning engagement. Through these processes, SPA may influence behavioral engagement and, in turn, health outcomes. Thus, the second model will test the direct effect of SPA on health and the indirect effect of SPA on health through learning engagement. Despite the theoretical and empirical interest in SPA and AARC, there are currently few studies that have investigated mediating mechanisms within the framework proposed by Diehl and Wahl (2010), and, to my knowledge, no research has explored the role of learning engagement in this model. Thus, the present study aims to address this gap by investigating two mediation models bridging SPA, AARC, and learning engagement.