Essentialist and Nonessentialist Views of Cognitive Aging in Older Age: The Role of Working Memory, Cognitive Inhibition and Psychological Well-Being

Abstract

Views of cognitive aging refer to how people think and believe about age-related cognitive changes with aging, including whether they perceive these age-related cognitive changes as fixed (essentialism of cognitive aging) or as potentially malleable (nonessentialism). This cross-sectional study examined the role of cognitive functioning—in particular working memory and cognitive inhibition/interference performance—and psychological well-being in explaining views of cognitive aging among older adults. A total of 237 community-dwelling older adults aged 64–85 years completed the Views of Cognitive Aging questionnaire, along with verbal working memory, cognitive inhibition/interference tasks, and a Psychological Well-Being questionnaire. Regression analyses showed that cognitive performance and psychological well-being explained a significant, though modest, part of the variance mainly in nonessentialist (malleable) views of cognitive aging. Better working memory performance was associated only with stronger generalized and personal nonessentialist views. In addition, greater cognitive resistance to proactive interference, but not inhibition, and psychological well-being were positively associated with generalized nonessentialist views of cognitive aging. These associations were more evident among adults aged 75–85 years than among those aged 64–74 years. Overall, these findings suggest that cognitive performance and psychological well-being contribute differently to the views of age-related cognitive changes and are more closely related to flexible, rather than fixed, views of cognitive aging, particularly in adults 75 and older. The examination of views of cognitive aging could be included in assessment protocols aimed at promoting healthy aging.