As people get older, they revise the age they consider to be old upwards

As people get older, they revise the age they consider to be old upwards

None of us are getting any younger, but it appears the age at which we are considered old has moved upwards over the generations.

What’s more, as adults get older, they shift the goalposts further still, a study has shown.

The researchers behind the study said the upward shift could be down to increases in life expectancy and retirement age, as well as other factors.

“We should be aware that conceptions and perceptions of ‘old’ change across historical time, and that people are quite different regarding when they think old age begins, dependent on their age, their birth cohort, but also their health etc,” said Dr Markus Wettstein, co-author of the study, from the Humboldt University of Berlin.

Writing in the journal Psychology and Aging, Wettstein and colleagues report how they analysed responses to the question: “At what age would you describe someone as old?”, which is part of the ongoing German ageing survey that follows people born between 1911 and 1974.

  • sylver_dragonEnglish
    6•2 months ago

    “This could have to do with the fact that many people do not want to be old, so they postpone the onset of old age,” said Wettstein

    Pretty much this. I used to think that 50 was old. Now that I’m approaching it and know people past that age, I’m not sure I like that definition any more. I also don’t “feel” old internally. Sure, my body isn’t what it used to be. But, I am still active and haven’t found myself limited in activities yet. Maybe that’s coming. But, I’m also trying not to wreck the time I have left by being too stupid with my body. And I think that’s where it’s less about “being old” than it is being “used up”. Sure, I did my share of stupid shit in my youth, we’re all young and dumb at some point. With a bit of luck, we all get older. Hopefully, you take a few precautions and get lucky during that stupid stuff and you don’t have a broken down body when you are older.

    There is also a matter of experience and perspective. The more shit you live through, the more you are able to put life experiences in perspective. It’s not only an age thing, being older usually means having lived through more things, but some folks get a lifetime of experience packed in a very short time due to bad circumstances. But, you start to recognize how little you can actually change or control in the world and start to accept the things you can’t change. And maybe that’s what “being old” is. You no longer have the vigor of youth nor the willingness to take on all the world’s problems. You’re more interested in just carving out a small patch of the world for yourself to live in as comfortably as you can. Sure, you may want a better world, and may even be roused to go do something about it from time to time. But you no longer believe that you can fix the world and really just want to warm your feet.