Youthful and older biases as special cases of a self-age optimization bias.

Two concepts of subjective age are measured for two cohorts (college students and older persons with an age range of 50 to 91 years). Functional age (Kastenbaum et al., 1972 Ages-of-Me Scale) shows the typical youthful bias for the older cohort. An older bias is shown for the Best/Ideal Age by the older cohort in comparison to the younger cohort. Taken together, the youthful bias, being like someone of younger chronological age, and the bias of selecting a relatively older age as best represents a "Self Age Optimization Bias." A sub-set of Best Age items dealing with work and career are identified for gender and cohort comparisons.