"Taken together, these findings suggest a complex and nuanced relationship between how older adults feel about their age-related appearance and the experiences they have, both positive and negative, related to their age," said first author Julie Ober Allen, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the Department of Health and Exercise Science, University of Oklahoma, Norman.Īllen worked on the survey during her time as a postdoctoral fellow at the Population Studies Center at U-M's Institute for Social Research. But the higher someone's score on the negative ageism experiences scale, the more likely they were to also say that they are in fair or poor physical and/or mental health. The higher someone's score on the positive experiences scale, the more likely they were to also say they were in good mental and/or physical health. Overall, those who had more positive and fewer negative experiences related to aging were also more likely to say they're in good or very good health, both physical and mental. The study also looks at how someone's self-reported health status related to their experiences around aging. Meanwhile, those who say they look older than others their age were much more likely to score higher on the negative ageism experiences scale, and lower on the positive age-related experiences scale. This relationship was especially strong for non-Hispanic Black and White respondents but not for Hispanic respondents. Those who said they had invested in strategies to look younger were also more likely to score higher on the scale of negative experiences related to aging. However, the news for those who had tried to look younger wasn't all rosy. Those who said they had invested time or money in looking younger were more likely to score higher on the positive scale too this was especially true for those who are married or have a partner. Those who feel they look younger than other people their age were more likely to score higher on the scale of positive age-related experiences, and lower on the scale of negative ageism experiences. Positive ones included being asked for advice and wisdom, and feeling a strong sense of purpose, while negative ones included having others assume they have difficulty seeing, hearing, remembering or using technology. In addition to asking about appearances, the poll asked older adults about both positive and negative experiences related to aging and ageism. The study, based on data from a national survey conducted for the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging, is published in the journal Psychology and Aging by a team from the University of Oklahoma, Norman and Michigan Medicine, U-M's academic medical center. Those more likely to say they'd done so included women, those with higher incomes and people of Hispanic origin. A slightly higher percentage of those who were ages 50 to 64 said they look older than their peers, compared with those ages 65 to 80.Īs for trying to look younger, the study finds that about one-third of older Americans (35%) have invested time or money toward this goal. The rest said they look about the same as their peers. On the other end of the spectrum, only 6% of older adults said they look older than other people their age. The percentage was slightly higher among women and among people with higher incomes, more years of education and current employment.
In all, 59% of adults age 50 to 80 say they think they look younger than other people their age. The study also explores how a person's perception of how old they look relates to both their positive and negative age-related experiences, and their physical and mental health. Now, a new study looks at what this kind of effort means for older adults' experiences with the ageism that pervades American society.