The perception of major life events across the life course.

To better understand the effects of life events, research interest recently turned to the question of how life events are perceived (e.g., as positive, predictable, or controllable). However, research on this topic primarily focused on young adulthood, leaving it unclear whether and how the percepti...

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Main Authors: Peter Haehner, Bernd Schaefer, Debora Brickau, Till Kaiser, Maike Luhmann
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2024-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0314011
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author Peter Haehner
Bernd Schaefer
Debora Brickau
Till Kaiser
Maike Luhmann
author_facet Peter Haehner
Bernd Schaefer
Debora Brickau
Till Kaiser
Maike Luhmann
author_sort Peter Haehner
collection DOAJ
description To better understand the effects of life events, research interest recently turned to the question of how life events are perceived (e.g., as positive, predictable, or controllable). However, research on this topic primarily focused on young adulthood, leaving it unclear whether and how the perception of life events varies across the life course. In this study, we examined the relationship between age and different perceived event characteristics using nationally representative data from the German Socioeconomic Panel Innovation Sample (N = 1,044). We found that people reported different event types across among age groups. Furthermore, the perception of life events varied across age and depending on whether an event was experienced at a normative age or not. These findings underline the necessity to take on a life-course perspective when examining life events and support theoretical claims on the relevance of age norms in life-event research.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1932-6203
language English
publishDate 2024-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj-art-dc2a1a3fe87a41a0b83fec2ad68b49b62024-12-10T05:32:45ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-011912e031401110.1371/journal.pone.0314011The perception of major life events across the life course.Peter HaehnerBernd SchaeferDebora BrickauTill KaiserMaike LuhmannTo better understand the effects of life events, research interest recently turned to the question of how life events are perceived (e.g., as positive, predictable, or controllable). However, research on this topic primarily focused on young adulthood, leaving it unclear whether and how the perception of life events varies across the life course. In this study, we examined the relationship between age and different perceived event characteristics using nationally representative data from the German Socioeconomic Panel Innovation Sample (N = 1,044). We found that people reported different event types across among age groups. Furthermore, the perception of life events varied across age and depending on whether an event was experienced at a normative age or not. These findings underline the necessity to take on a life-course perspective when examining life events and support theoretical claims on the relevance of age norms in life-event research.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0314011
spellingShingle Peter Haehner
Bernd Schaefer
Debora Brickau
Till Kaiser
Maike Luhmann
The perception of major life events across the life course.
PLoS ONE
title The perception of major life events across the life course.
title_full The perception of major life events across the life course.
title_fullStr The perception of major life events across the life course.
title_full_unstemmed The perception of major life events across the life course.
title_short The perception of major life events across the life course.
title_sort perception of major life events across the life course
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0314011
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