Life

Study Finds ‘Old Age’ Now Perceived To Start Later For Both Self And Others

Unsplash

Middle-aged and older adults today perceive old age as beginning later in life compared to their peers from previous decades, according to a recent study.

This shift in perception underscores the idea that aging is more of a mindset than a mere number.

Study author Markus Wettstein, PhD, of Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, said, “Life expectancy has increased, which might contribute to a later perceived onset of old age.”

“Also, some aspects of health have improved over time, so that people of a certain age who were regarded as old in the past may no longer be considered old nowadays,” he adds.

Published in the journal Psychology and Aging, the study highlights how people tend to push the onset of old age further as they themselves grow older. However, the research also indicates that this trend has decelerated over the past twenty years.

Led by Wettstein and colleagues from Stanford University, the University of Luxembourg, and the University of Greifswald, the study analyzed data from 14,056 participants involved in the German Ageing Survey.

This longitudinal study includes individuals living in Germany who were born between 1911 and 1974. Participants provided responses to survey questions up to eight times over a 25-year span (1996-2021), during which they ranged from 40 to 100 years old.

Additional participants, aged 40 to 85, were recruited throughout the study to include newer generations entering midlife and old age. A key question posed to participants was, “At what age would you describe someone as old?”

The findings revealed a generational shift in perceptions of old age. For instance, participants born in 1911 considered the onset of old age to be at 71 when they were 65 years old.

In contrast, those born in 1956 perceived old age to start at 74 on average when they reached the same age. This demonstrates as clear trend of later perceived onset of old age among more recent generations. However, this trend has slowed in recent years.

“The trend toward postponing old age is not linear and might not necessarily continue in the future,” Dr. Wettstein said.

The study also explored how individual perceptions of old age evolved as participants aged. Results showed that as people grew older, they continued to push back the perceived start of old age.

At age 64, the average participant believed old age began at 74.7 years. By age 74, this perception had shifted to 76.8 years. On average, the perceived onset of old age increased by about one year for every four to five years of actual aging.

Gender and health status also played a role in shaping these perceptions. Women, on average, reported that old age began two years later than men did. This gender gap in perceptions of aging has widened over time. The study suggests that individual characteristic significantly influence how people define old age.

The implications of these findings are noteworthy. As people push back the age they consider old, it may affect how they prepare for aging and how society views older adults. Dr. Wettstein suggests that understanding these shifting perceptions can inform policies and initiatives aimed at supporting an aging population.

Future research should investigate whether this trend of postponing the onset of old age continues. Additionally, examining diverse populations in other countries, including non-Western societies, could provide a broader understanding how cultural contexts influence perceptions of aging.

Such research could reveal significant variations in aging perceptions globally, enriching our understanding of how different cultures approach and experience aging.

Tags: ,