Ways of Being: Life Coaching to Heal Your Life!
Marlene Shiple, Ph.D. The Life Coach Dr.: Heal Your Past + Heal Your Thoughts + Heal Your Self => Heal Your Life!

Mar

21

Thoughts of Age Can Affect How You Age

Filed Under Emotional Healing, Life Coaching, Mental Healing, Physical Healing

ScienceDaily (Mar. 4, 2010) — According to research from Purdue University, the saying “You’re only as old as you feel” seems to resonate especially with older adults.  According to the study’s lead investigator, “How old you are matters, but beyond that it’s your interpretation that has far-reaching implications for the process of aging.”

Doctoral student in sociology and gerontology, Markus H. Schafer continues to explain, “If you feel old beyond your own chronological years, you are probably going to experience a lot of the downsides that we associate with aging.  But if you are older and maintain a sense of being younger, then that gives you an edge in maintaining a lot of the abilities you prize.”

Schafer and co-author Tetyana P. Shippee, a Purdue graduate who is a research associate at Purdue’s Center on Aging and the Life Course, compared people’s chronological age and their subjective age to determine which one has a greater influence on cognitive abilities during older adulthood. Nearly 500 people ages 55-74 were surveyed about aging in 1995 and in 2005 as part of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States.

In 1995, when people were asked what age do you feel most of the time, the majority identified with being 12 years younger than they actually were.  The researchers found that those who felt young for their age also experienced greater confidence about their cognitive abilities a decade after.

“We are not sure about what comes first,” Schafer explained. “Does a person’s wellness and happiness affect their cognitive abilities or does a person’s cognitive ability contribute to their sense of wellness.”  This will be addressed in future research.

Schafer points out both positive and negative implications of this study’s findings.  “There is a tremendous emphasis on being youthful in our society and that can have a negative effect for people,” Schafer said. “People want to feel younger, and so when they do inevitably age they can lose a lot of confidence in their cognitive abilities.”

“But on the other hand, because there is such a desire in America to stay young, there may be benefits of trying to maintain a sense of youthfulness by keeping up with new trends and activities that feel invigorating.  Learning new technologies is one way people can continue to improve their cognitive abilities. It will be interesting to see how, or if, these cultural norms shift as the Baby Boomer generation ages.”

“There is a slight difference between men and women, but it’s not as pronounced as we expected,” Schafer said. “This was surprising because of the emphasis on physical attractiveness and youth that is often disproportionately placed on women.”

This research supports the fact that what you think now about yourself and your vitality can have a positive effect on your cognitive abilities well into later life.  This being the case, keeping your thoughts positive — in addition to avidly exercising your mental functioning — work not only to keep you mentally vital, but also affect your confidence in your mental abilities.

Comments

Comments are closed.