88-year-old Willie Howell plays the ball during Pensacola Seniors Volleyball at the Fricker Community Center in Pensacola on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. © Gregg Pachkowski / gregg@pnj.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
Syndication: News-Journal
(New York, NY) — – The older people get, the later they think old age starts. A German study published this week in the American Psychological Association’s Psychology and Aging journal checked in with thousands of people over the years born between 1911 and 1974. The longer the study went on, the further away people saw the start of old age. People born before 1935 thought old age started earlier compared with people born after. Part of the reason could be longer life expectancies and a better overall quality of life.
Study author, Dr. Markus Wettstein says researchers found that compared with the earliest-born participants, later-born participants reported a later perceived onset of old age. For example, when participants born in 1911 were 65 years old, they set the beginning of old age at age 71. In contrast, participants born in 1956 said old age begins at age 74, on average, when they were 65.
