Abstract: Since officially becoming an aging society in 2000, China has urgently needed to integrate the principles of positive aging and healthy aging throughout its social development. Under the background, this cross-temporal meta-analysis investigated the changing trends and social causes of older adults’ aging attitude in China from 2008 to 2023, based on 72 papers encompassing 224 studies (N=66338). The results found: (1) older adults’ overall positive aging attitudes demonstrated a upward trend; (2) multiple social factors had significant positive effects on adults’ aging attitudes: per capita national expenditure on elderly welfare, the proportion of older adults receiving welfare subsidies, elderly care service institution, community-based elderly care and the number of older adults’ associations. These results clarify the evolving trend and social causes of older adults’ aging attitudes in China in recent years, offering both theoretical foundations and practical insights for proactively addressing the challenges for population aging.

Key words: aging attitude, physical changes, psychological growth, psychosocial loss, social factors, meta analysis