According to a study, people believe that “old age” begins later than it used to.

Photo Credit (Gettyimages)

Washington—According to research by the American Psychological Association, middle-aged and older persons now think that old age starts later in life than their contemporaries did decades before.

The perceived beginning of old age may be delayed due to the increase in life expectancy. According to Markus Wettstein, PhD, of Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, who wrote the paper, “People of a certain age who were regarded as old in the past may no longer be considered old nowadays because some aspects of health have improved over time.”

The study, however, also discovered evidence that the trend of later perceived old age has slowed over the last 20 years. It was published in the journal Psychology and Ageing.

In the German Ageing Survey, a longitudinal study that included individuals born in Germany between 1911 and 1974, Wettstein and colleagues from Stanford University, the University of Luxembourg, and the University of Greifswald, Germany, analysed data from 14,056 participants. Between the ages of 40 and 100, survey respondents answered questions up to eight times throughout a 25-year period (1996–2021). As later generations neared midlife and old age, more participants (ages 40 to 85) were gathered during the study period. “At what age would you describe someone as old?” was one of the numerous questions the survey respondents had to respond to.

The researchers discovered that those who were born later had a later perceived onset of old age than those who were born first. For instance, they established the start of old age at age 71 for individuals born in 1911 who were 65 years old. On the other hand, participants who were born in 1956 stated that, on average, old age starts at age 74 at the age of 65.

The trend towards a later perceived onset of old age has, however, slowed recently, the researchers also discovered.

According to Wettstein, “the trend towards delaying old age is not linear and might not continue in the future.”

As the subjects grew older, the researchers also examined how their views of old age evolved. They discovered that people’s perceptions of the onset of old age shifted farther away as they became older. The average participant stated that old age began at age 74.7 at age 64. They claimed that old age began at age 76.8 at age 74. For every four to five years of actual ageing, the perceived beginning of old age rose by approximately one year on average.

Last but not least, the researchers looked at how individual traits like gender and health condition affected how different people experienced the onset of old age. They discovered that women often believed that old age began two years later than men—and that the gap between the sexes had widened over time. Additionally, they discovered that, on average, those who reported feeling older, more lonely, and in worse health said that old age had begun earlier than those who felt younger, less lonely, and in better health.

According to Wettstein, the findings might affect how and when people plan for their own ageing as well as how they see older people generally.

According to Wettstein, “it is unclear to what extent the trend towards delaying old age reflects a trend towards more positive views on older people and ageing, or rather the opposite—perhaps the onset of old age is postponed because people consider being old to be an undesirable state.”

In order to comprehend how attitudes towards ageing differ by nation and culture, the researchers suggest that future studies look at whether the tendency towards a “postponement” of old age persists and explore more diverse demographics in other nations, particularly non-Western nations.

The article, “Postponing Old Age: Evidence for Historical Change Towards a Later Perceived Onset of Old Age,” was written by Susanne Wurm, PhD, of University Medicine Greifswald; Rinseo Park, PhD, and Nilan Ram, PhD, of Stanford University; Markus Wettstein, PhD, and Denis Gerstorf, PhD, of Humboldt University of Berlin; and Anna E. Kornadt, PhD, of the University of Luxembourg. Psychology and Ageing, April 22, 2024, online.