Promoting positive views on aging

Promoting positive views on aging

Older people mostly have a negative perception of older people, while younger people are perceived more positively by all age groups (for an overview see Kite, Stockdale, Whitley, & Johnson, 2005). Studies suggest that more negative views on aging are associated with worse health or longer recovery from illnesses, e.g., Levy, Zonderman, Slade, & Ferrucci, 2009; Levy, Slade, Murphy, & Gill, 2012. Conversely, people with more positive views on aging stay healthier and live longer, as noted in Levy, Slade, Kasl, & Kunkel, 2002; Sargent-Cox, Anstey, & Luszcz, 2012; and Wurm, Tesch-Römer, & Tomasik, 2007 among others. One reason for those findings is that people with more positive views on aging live a healthier life even before they grow old, e.g., they are more physically active.

In view of these results, we examine if it is possible to promote positive views on aging. In a practice-oriented project, we achieved first success (Wolff et al., 2014). Our project is not about developing non-realistic positive views on aging. Instead our goal is to demonstrate ways for maintaining health and quality of life in old age.

Coordinators: Prof. Dr. Susanne Wurm, Ann-Kristin Beyer, Carina Bieber, Christiane Büchel, Christin Kohrs

Cooperation: Dr. Ellen Freiberger, Associate Professor, Institute for Biomedicine of Ageing

Project period: 08/2014 – 08/2015

Funded by: Universitätsbund

References:

Westerhof, G., Miche, M., Brothers, A., Barrett, A., Diehl, M., Montepare, J. M., . . . Wurm, S. (2014). The influence of subjective aging on health and longevity: A meta-analysis of longitudinal data. Psychology and Aging  (advance online publication). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0038016

Westerhof, G., & Wurm, S. (2014). Longitudinal research on subjective aging, health, and longevity: Current evidence and new directions for research. In M. Diehl & H.-W. Wahl (Eds.), Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics (ARGG) (Vol. 35).

Wolff, J. K., Warner, L. M., Ziegelmann, J. P., & Wurm, S. (2014). What do targeting positive views on ageing add to a physical activity intervention in older adults? Results from a randomised controlled trial. Psychology & Health, 29(8), 915-932.

Wurm, S., Tomasik, M. J., & Tesch-Römer, C. (2010). On the importance of a positive view on aging for physical exercise among middle-aged and older adults: Cross-sectional and longitudinal findings. Psychology & Health, 25(1), 25-42.

Wurm, S., Warner, L. M., Ziegelmann, J. P., Wolff, J. K., & Schüz, B. (2013). How do negative self-perceptions of aging become a self-fulfilling prophecy? Psychology and Aging, 28(4), 1088-1097. doi: DOI: 10.1037/a0032845