In the context of the current demographic and organisational changes, and changes in the content of jobs, this research aims to analyse, for adult workers, the relationship between subjective age and career.
Our hypothesis is that subjective age might be a better predictor of career decisions and strategy than chronological age, especially in the second part of this career.
Our research aims to explore potential links between career construction, by different career specifications (learning, internal or external mobility, professional bifurcation, entrepreneurship, no change) and individual attitudes to age and aging, by the notion of subjective age.
A qualitative interview survey was conducted with 50 adults. It focuses on attitudes towards age, aging and career. An analysis of the main characteristics of career choices and career strategies examined the relationship between subjective age and career guidance strategy and behaviors. Several questionnaires were also used. These questionnaires focus on individual representations and adherence to stereotypes of aging in a chronological perspective (past, present and future).
The study corroborates the existence of a subjective age, different from the actual age, and an inter and intra individual variability of this subjective age.
The subjective age is contextualized and depends on several individual and contextual factors. Subjective age seems to be related to individual representations of age and aging, but also to dominant social norms.
The results also corroborate our hypothesis of more significant relationship between subjective age and career choices than with chronological age.