Aging is a normal part of the human experience. While it is perfectly common to reflect on your own aging process as it approaches, a recent study from Oregon State University revealed that too much negative thinking on the subject can severely affect your health and how your body responds to stress.
The study, which took daily survey data from 105 adults ages 52 to 88 for a 100-day period, showed that those who looked at aging as a positive experience showed fewer physical effects of stress than those who portrayed negativity about their own aging.
“Better self-perceptions of aging are good for your health, regardless of how much stress you have, or how much stress you perceive you have,” said Dakota Witzel, lead author on the study and a doctoral candidate in OSU’s College of Public Health and Human Sciences (CPHHS).
The group was surveyed in 2010 by OSU’s Personal Understanding of Life and Social Experiences (PULSE) study, and the results were published in the Journals of Gerontology: Series B.
Participants were given statements such as, “Today, I felt like difficulties were piling up so high I could not overcome them,” and, “As you get older, you are less useful.” They were asked to either agree or disagree with each.
Stress has long been linked to various health conditions, including high blood pressure, heart disease, and cognitive deterioration. In fact, even perceived stress – a person viewing something as stressful – can have these same effects.
On average, a more positive outlook on aging was linked to fewer health issues within the study, and higher perceived stress was linked to more health issues and worse self-perceptions. More interestingly, when the more negative-thinking individuals reported days where they had higher stress than normal, they had three times more health symptoms than those with positive self-perceptions. Witzel claimed this means that negative thinking that backs up stereotypes on aging physically affects people and the lives they live.
“These things are truly important for our health and well-being, not only long-term, but in our day-to-day life,” she said. “The likelihood of reporting these physical health symptoms is significantly decreased, on average, when you have better self-perceptions of aging.”
Witzel added that intervention can make a significant impact when it comes to self-perceptions of aging, and thinking more positively about the aging process – while not “faking it” or ignoring serious health conditions – can truly affect your overall health.
“It’s kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy,” she said.
Karen Hooker, a co-author of the study and OSU CPHHS professor, added that everyone should create positive images of their future, older selves. She claimed this would help fight negative stereotypes of aging we may have in our heads.
“Our self-perceptions of aging could be a modifiable resilience factor shaping our mental and physical health later in life,” she said.
It is important to note that a limited sample population – mostly white, female, and well-educated – could have affected the overall outcome.
A third co-author of the study was Public Health doctoral student Shelbie Turner. OSU’s Center for Healthy Aging Research funded the PULSE study.
By: Rebekah Harcrow
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