What Preceding Health Changes Mean for Our Connection with Past and Future Selves

What is it about?

Self-continuity is the sense of being the same person across one’s past, present, and future, and it is an important foundation of self-identity. The relationship between health and self-continuity is thought to be dynamic and go in both directions. However, most previous research has focused on self-continuity as a predictor, rather than examining what shapes self-continuity itself. This study investigates how current and preceding physical and mental health status are related to people’s sense of continuity with both past and future selves.

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Photo by Mizanur Rahman on Unsplash

Photo by Mizanur Rahman on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Using data from more than 1,600 adults aged 18 to 94 in Germany collected between 2012 and 2017, this study shows that both current health and prior changes in physical and mental health are linked to people’s sense of connection to their past and future selves. Connections to the past self are especially sensitive to poorer or declining health, with the strongest effects observed in older adults. These findings suggest that health is not only important for functioning and well-being, but also for maintaining a stable sense of identity over time, particularly in later adulthood when health changes are more frequent.