Feeling younger than one really is only makes one happier up to a certain threshold: Among 40-year old adults the greatest life satisfaction was reported when they felt about 18 years old

Blöchl, Maria, Steffen Nestler, and David Weiss. 2020. “A Limit of the Subjective Age Bias: Feeling Younger to a Certain Degree, but No More, Is Beneficial for Life Satisfaction.” PsyArXiv. January 22. doi:10.31234/osf.io/pfxqh

Abstract: The majority of adults feels considerably younger than their chronological age. Numerous studies suggest that maintaining a younger subjective age is linked to greater life satisfaction. However, whether there is a limit beyond which feeling younger becomes detrimental is not well understood. Here, we use response surface analysis to examine the relationships between subjective age, chronological age, and life satisfaction in in a large sample spanning adulthood (N= 7,356; 36 –89 years). We find that there is a limit to feeling younger: People who feel younger by a certain amount, but not more, have the highest levels of life satisfaction. In addition, our findings suggest that the discrepancy between subjective and chronological age at which life satisfaction is highest increases across the adult age span. Taken together, these findings reveal that beyond a certain point, feeling younger than one’s chronological age may be psychologically harmful.

News consumption from both traditional and social media increases exposure to fake news stories, which further decreases people’s trust in the mainstream media

Antecedents and consequences of fake news exposure: a two-panel study on how news use and different indicators of fake news exposure affect media trust. Sangwon Lee, Homero Gil de Zúñiga, Kevin Munger. Human Communication Research, April 8 2023, hqad019, https://doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqad019

Abstract: Despite abundant studies on “fake news,” the long-term consequences have been less explored. In this context, this study examines the dynamic relationship between traditional and social news media use, fake news exposure—measured as perceived fake news exposure and exposure to actual fake news stories, and mainstream media trust. We found interesting patterns across two U.S. panel survey studies. First, we found that exposure to fake news—regardless of how we measured it—decreased people’s trust in the mainstream media. Yet, we also found that while both social media and traditional news use were positively associated with exposure to actual fake news stories, only social media news use was positively associated with perceived fake news exposure. This finding implies that while many people believe that social media is the culprit of fake news exposure, traditional news use may also contribute to people’s exposure to popular fake news stories.