You're as Old As You Want to Be

In general, women perceived their appearance as being closer to their actual age, Smith said. "Women saw themselves as about four years older than their male peers," she said. "There are several likely reasons for this gender gap in subjective physical age. One is that women may be more aware of their appearance than men, especially given the negative stereotypes of older bodies."

To assess satisfaction with aging, researchers asked participants to what extent they agreed with these five statements: "Things keep getting worse as I get older;" "I have as much pep as I had last year;" "As I get older, I am less useful;" "As I get older, things are better than I thought they would be;" and "I am as happy now as I was when I was younger."

Initially, men were more satisfied than women with their own aging. But over the six-year period studied, men's satisfaction decreased more than women's. Poor health magnified these patterns, Smith said.

According to Smith, examining changes in how people feel about the aging process in old age can provide important indicators about the resilience and vitality of the older self. In unpublished research based on the Berlin Aging Study, she and colleagues have found that people who feel younger are less likely to die than those who don't, given the same level of chronological age and equivalent physical health.

"Feeling positive about getting older may well be associated with remaining active and experiencing better health in old age," she said. "Thus, studies on self-perceptions of aging can contribute to our understanding of potential indicators of resilience in older adults and the aging self."

Source: University of Michigan Institute for Social Research