Increased life expectancy and later retirement could explain the change in public perception of old age
When do you think you’ll get old? Your answer is probably a few years older than what people thought a few decades ago. Middle-aged and older adults believe that old age begins later than it did decades ago, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association.
“Life expectancy has increased, which may contribute to a later perception of old age.” “In addition, some aspects of health have improved over time, so people of a certain age who were once considered old may no longer be so today are old,” says study author Dr. Markus Wettstein from the Humboldt University of Berlin.
However, the study, published in the journal Psychology and Aging, also found signs that the tendency to perceive age later has slowed over the past two decades.
Wettstein, along with colleagues from Stanford University, the University of Luxembourg and the University of Greifswald (Germany), examined data from 14,056 participants in the German Aging Survey, a longitudinal study that involved people living in Germany born between 1911 and 1974 who answered survey questions over the course of 25 years (1996-2021) up to eight times when they were between 40 and 100 years old. Additional participants (aged 40 to 85 years) were recruited throughout the study period as subsequent generations reached middle and old age. Among the many questions survey participants answered was: “At what age would you consider someone old?”
Over 65 years
The researchers found that, compared to earlier-born participants, those born later perceived age later. For example, when participants born in 1911 were 65 years old, they set the starting age at 71 years. In contrast, participants born in 1956 reported an average age of 74 when they were 65.
However, the researchers also found that the tendency to perceive the onset of old age later has slowed in recent years.
“The trend of postponing old age is not linear and may not necessarily continue in the future,” says Wettstein.
The researchers also examined how participants’ perceptions of age changed as they grew older. They found that as they got older, their perception of the onset of old age decreased. At age 64, the average participant reported that age begins at 74.7 years. At 74 years old, it was said, the age began at 76.8 years old. On average, perceptions of the onset of old age increased by about one year for every four to five years of actual aging.
Finally, the researchers examined how individual characteristics such as gender and health status contribute to different perceptions of the onset of old age. They found that, on average, women reported that old age began two years later than men, and that the difference between men and women increased over time. They also found that people who felt lonelier, were in poorer health and felt older reported that old age began earlier on average than those who felt less lonely, were in better health and felt younger .
Wettstein said the findings could have implications for when and how people prepare for their old age and how people think about older adults in general.
“It is not clear to what extent the tendency to delay old age reflects a trend towards more positive attitudes towards older people and aging, or rather the opposite: perhaps the onset of old age is delayed because people view old age as an undesirable condition “hold,” said Wettstein.
Future research should examine whether the trend toward “shifting” aging continues, according to the researchers, and examine more diverse populations in other countries, including non-Western countries, to understand how perceptions of aging vary by country and culture .
REFERENCE
Postponing aging: Evidence for a historical shift toward a later perceived onset of old age.