Daily Dynamics of Awareness of Aging and Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration in Middle and Older Adulthood

OBJECTIVES: This daily diary study examined associations between awareness of age-related change (AARC) and satisfaction/frustration of basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in a sample of midlife and older adults. We expected that greater satisfaction and lower frustration of needs would be associated with higher AARC-gains and lower AARC-losses. We also examined whether within-person associations of need satisfaction/frustration with AARC were moderated by age. 

METHODS: Participants (N = 152; aged 53+) completed measures of AARC and basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration on their smartphones for 10 consecutive days. Data were analyzed using multilevel models, with time-varying basic need satisfaction/frustration variables disaggregated into between-person and within-person components. 

RESULTS: On days participants reported higher than usual overall satisfaction of needs, and lower than usual frustration of needs, AARC-gains was higher, and AARC-losses was lower. Analysis of individual needs showed that autonomy and competence were more consistently related to higher AARC-gains and lower AARC-losses than relatedness. Within-person autonomy satisfaction was more strongly (negatively) associated with AARC-losses at older ages. 

DISCUSSION: Findings suggest that daily experiences related to satisfaction and frustration of goals related to autonomy and competence in particular may be proximal antecedents of short-term variation in AARC.