10/20/2021
You probably have heard of the saying āyou are what you eatā, but have you ever thought to apply that to the way that you think?
There is a stigma with aging that is causing us to automatically accept age stereotypes without questioning if itās true or not:
āstart to slow down"
ābecome helplessā
ācanāt drive anymoreā
"start to forget moreā
ābecome a burdenā
These are all examples of negative aging stereotypes
When we reach older age and the stereotypes become relevant to ourselves, we then internalize the stereotypes. That then contributes to the formation of our self-perceptions of aging, which can have a physiological outcome on our lives.
The self-perceptions of aging that are internalized from a younger age cause us to think that there is an inverse relationship between value and the length of an older personās life.
These beliefs are reinforced throughout a lifetime, particularly in older age. This can cause us to have a lower-will to live, which can actually shorten our life span. Hereās a perfect example from the study of Longevity Increased by Positive Self-Perceptions of Agingā:
āIn a previous study, we found that views of aging can affect older individualsā reported will to live. When we subliminally exposed older individuals to negative stereotypes of aging, they were significantly more likely to reject life-prolonging medical treatment in hypothetical scenarios, whereas those in the positive stereotype group were significantly more likely to accept life- prolonging medical treatments (Levy et al., 1999ā2000). As predicted, this effect did not appear in the young, for whom the age stereotypes and the outcome of will to live were not as relevant.ā
Aging is a natural experience that we all face. We can take proactive steps now to improving our well-being (and our futureās well-being) without even doing anything physical- lets start changing the way we think and feel about aging so we can all live healthier, happier, and longer lives.
Full study:https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-832261.pdf