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The construct of possible selves was used to examine when, in the adult life span, health-related goals become dominant. It was predicted that by middle age most adults would have health-related possible selves and that the strength of self-regulatory variables associated with health-related possible selves would be related to reported health behaviors. Data collected from 171 young and middle-aged adults showed that health-related possible selves become predominant in midlife. In addition, both young and middle-aged adults reported more feared than hoped-for selves in the realm of health. Perceived self-efficacy and number of goal-oriented activities to avoid feared health-relevant selves were significant predictors of health behaviors. Results are discussed in relation to theoretical perspectives on self and health processes over the life span.
Hooker et al. (Sat,) studied this question.