Most Senior Citizens Feel Younger, Think They Look
Younger Than They Are
New study on aging says poor health quickly modifies
these positive opinions
Dec.
8, 2008 - Senior citizens tend to feel about 13 years younger than their
chronological age but think they look only 7 years younger. Women,
however, perceived their appearance as being closer to their actual age,
according to a new study on aging.
These findings are from a study forthcoming in the
Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Science. The researchers
analyzed the responses of 516 men and women age 70 and older who
participated in the Berlin Aging Study, tracking how their perceptions
about age and their satisfaction with aging changed over a six-year
period.
Old folks who live longest are happy, healthy, rich
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"People generally felt quite a bit younger than
they actually were, and they also showed relatively high levels of
satisfaction with aging over the time period studied," said Jacqui
Smith, a psychologist at the University of Michigan Institute for Social
Research (ISR). Smith conducted the study with colleagues Anna
Kleinspehn-Ammerlahn and Dana Kotter-Gruehn at the Max Planck Institute
for Human Development in Berlin.
"We examined individual changes over time, and
expected the gap to increase. But we were surprised to find that it was
maintained, on average. Perhaps feeling about 13 years younger is an
optimal illusion in old age," Smith said.
Smith and colleagues found that some of the oldest
participants did feel even younger over time. But poor health reduced
the gap between felt age and actual age.
The researchers also assessed how old people
thought they looked, asking them:
"How old do you feel when you look at yourself in a
mirror?"
They responded by selecting an age on a scale that
ranged from 0 to 120 years. In general, at the start of the study people
said they looked about 10 years younger than they were. By the end of
the study, this gap had narrowed; people felt they looked only about
seven years younger than their chronological age.
In general, women perceived their appearance as
being closer to their actual age, Smith said.
"Women saw themselves as about four years older
than their male peers," she said.
"There are several likely reasons for this gender
gap in subjective physical age. One is that women may be more aware of
their appearance than men, especially given the negative stereotypes of
older bodies."
To assess satisfaction with aging, researchers
asked participants to what extent they agreed with these five
statements: "Things keep getting worse as I get older;" "I have as much
pep as I had last year;" "As I get older, I am less useful;" "As I get
older, things are better than I thought they would be;" and "I am as
happy now as I was when I was younger."
Initially, men were more satisfied than women with
their own aging. But over the six-year period studied, men's
satisfaction decreased more than women's. Poor health magnified these
patterns, Smith said.
According to Smith, examining changes in how people
feel about the aging process in old age can provide important indicators
about the resilience and vitality of the older self.
In unpublished research based on the Berlin Aging
Study, she and colleagues have found that people who feel younger are
less likely to die than those who don't, given the same level of
chronological age and equivalent physical health.
"Feeling positive about getting older may well be
associated with remaining active and experiencing better health in old
age," she said.
"Thus, studies on self-perceptions of aging can
contribute to our understanding of potential indicators of resilience in
older adults and the aging self."
Established in 1949, the University of Michigan
Institute for Social Research (ISR) is among the world's oldest academic
survey research organizations, and a world leader in the development and
application of social science methodology. Visit the ISR Web site at
www.isr.umich.edu for more information.
Dec.
8, 2008 - Senior citizens tend to feel about 13 years younger than their
chronological age but think they look only 7 years younger. Women,
however, perceived their appearance as being closer to their actual age,
according to a new study on aging.
Old folks who live longest are happy, healthy, rich
people that don't smoke and control drinking. Was that ever a mystery?
Is this the study to no where?