C-Force: Getting Older is the Club No One Wants to Join

According to a study published in the American Psychological Association's Psychology and Aging journal, over a 25-year period, 14,000 German Aging Survey participants' perceptions of when old age begins shifted up to eight different times. "People in their mid-60s believe old age starts at 75 -- but the older people get, the later they think it begins," NBC News reports as an example of such a shift.

"I would say that this confirms in a very strong way, at least in Germany, that 70 is the new 60," said John Rowe, a Columbia University professor of health policy and aging. While the reasons for this shift in perception are many, Rowe and Markus Wettstein, a Humboldt University of Berlin psychologist and the study's lead author, believe "some people in the study may have deliberately excluded themselves from the old age category because they saw it as undesirable," NBC News reports.

When someone turns 50 in the U.S., they become eligible to be a full-fledged member of AARP. When you or maybe some of your friends may have crossed this age threshold, you or they might have received AARP recruitment literature in the mail. It's quite possible the response to it was a sense of shock: "I'm 50, I'm not old!"

Where is such a response, of feeling somehow better than being considered as old, coming from? Why are people so resistant to be seen as approaching "old" or even being "older," a status that used to be treated with respect? This opposition to being seen as being in that group, or accepting those who are, has become so ingrained in our culture that we hardly even notice.

"From 'antiaging' face creams to wisecracking birthday cards about getting older ... the message is clear: Being old is something to avoid," writes Kirsten Weir in an APA cover story. "Never mind that, if we have the good fortune to live a long life, inaccurate stereotypes about aging will harm all of us."

Dr. Joann Montepare, a Lasell University psychology professor, director of the RoseMary B. Fuss Center for Research on Aging and Intergenerational Studies, and former president of APA's Division 20, says, "Ageism is this odd '-ism' in that it's still socially acceptable in many ways." Though it's commonplace, it has "a host of negative effects, for people's physical and mental well-being and society as a whole," Weir writes.

That people are pushing back the perceived start of old age is more than just some interesting factoid. According to NBC News, "Past research has shown that negative beliefs about getting older are linked to higher stress levels, which in turn may increase the risk of heart attack or stroke. Studies have conversely shown that people with positive views of aging are less likely to develop dementia and tend to live longer than people with more negative views of aging."

People who see themselves as younger don't necessarily benefit from this perception. According to Dr. Karl Pillemer, a sociologist and Cornell University professor of psychology and gerontology, "Older people tend to report greater happiness and life satisfaction compared to younger people."

Dr. Becca Levy is a professor of epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health and of psychology at Yale University who has conducted research exploring "how societal messages about aging impact a person's health and well-being," Weir writes. "Experimental research, longitudinal studies, and cross-cultural comparisons of age-related beliefs all point to one conclusion: 'People who take in more negative age beliefs tend to show worse physical, cognitive, and mental health. But the good news is that those who are exposed to or develop more positive age beliefs tend to show benefits in physical, cognitive, and mental health, (Levy) said.

"Though misconceptions and negative beliefs about aging are often deeply entrenched, they are not immutable. Levy, for one, is optimistic that antiageism efforts are gaining ground. 'We're on the verge,' she said, 'of a social movement to bring about a more age-just society.'"

If we are to successfully reframe attitudes toward aging, we had better get to it, warns a 2023 opinion piece by The New York Times editorial board. "America may still think of itself as a young nation, but as a society, it is growing old.

"Aging societies have different needs from young ones, and while America is far from the only country facing this shift, it has been slow to address it. ... The challenge the country faces transcends ideology, geography and ethnic or racial category, and American leaders, regardless of their party, need to confront it with the appropriate urgency."

"Many older people in the United States say they feel invisible in a country that has long been obsessed with youth, avoiding the inevitability -- and possibilities -- of old age. ... The challenges of an aging population are also deeply personal. Among the most elemental questions are where and how we will spend the closing years of our lives."

According to a recent U.S. News health report on the secrets to aging well, "Many aspects of health are related, such as isolation, depression and functional decline." Dr. Patricia Harris, a geriatrician and professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, says, "It takes a lot of things to live longer and healthier." It starts with things like acceptance, community and society engagement, say the experts.

Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebook's "Official Chuck Norris Page." He blogs at http://chucknorrisnews.blogspot.com. To find out more about Chuck Norris and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

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