The Paradox of Positive Attitudes About Aging
New research reveals that rather than being unaffected by our ageist culture, people with positive attitudes about aging remain a product of it.
Well, the Oscars happened on Sunday, and the show was surprisingly good.
So many great moments, but one that made an impression that’s relevant to Longevity Gains was 72-year-old Michael Keaton, shown here giving the “Batman stare” in a gag involving Danny Devito and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I made the comment on Threads that my new goal is to look like Keaton when I’m 72. He doesn’t “look good for his age,” he just looks good. And I think that’s what we all want within the context of our own genetic possibilities.
As Longevity Gains readers know, what we believe about aging matters. It affects our quality of life as we get older, and can determine how long we live.
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.
In 2002, psychologist Becca Levy published a longevity study that followed residents ages 50+ in a small Ohio town for over two decades. Incredibly, she found the median survival was seven and a half years longer for people with the most positive views about aging compared to those with the most negative beliefs.
Levy’s research suggested that people with positive attitudes about aging were less susceptible to the impact of cultural ageism. But new research suggests different reasoning – namely that people who believe they look younger than others their age are more likely to have positive attitudes about aging:
The study, led by Julie Ober Allen, an assistant professor of health promotion at the University of Oklahoma, found that 59% of adults in a nationally representative poll of Americans aged 50 to 80 believe they look younger than other people their age. These respondents reported more positive experiences related to age, such as being asked for advice and wisdom and having a strong sense of purpose. However, those who reported feeling older than others their age experienced more negative interactions.
In other words, rather than being unaffected by our ageist culture, people with positive attitudes about aging remain a product of it. This changes the entire frame of that topic along with the discussion of subjective age, two important considerations that we’ve explored in Longevity Gains over the last year.
People equate looking younger than their peers as a good thing, which necessarily means looking older is a less good thing. The study then effectively proves that point from a practical standpoint as well, with those who didn’t share a youthful assessment of themselves as experiencing life as an older person more negatively:
The study revealed that those who feel they look younger than their age were more likely to report positive age-related experiences and better mental and physical health. On the other hand, individuals who believed they looked older were more likely to experience negative ageism and report poorer health.
Of course, if your motivation is to look younger, there are lots of healthy things you can do that also benefit your longevity as well:
"We know that healthier eating, more physical activity, better sleep, stress reduction techniques, preventive oral hygiene, use of sunscreen, and reducing or eliminating use of tobacco, alcohol and other substances can all impact appearance later in life, as well as physical and mental health," he said. "And many of these interventions are less costly, or at least more evidence-based, than the many commercial products and services that claim to reduce signs of aging."
Marketers and entrepreneurs in the health, fitness, and nutrition industries already know to list all the benefits of these practices, along with what is often the primary motivator – looking your best. And the good news here is that the study finds that those who said they had invested time or money in looking younger were more positive about themselves, which certainly should be a talking point in your marketing efforts.
But what about dying your hair? Or cosmetic surgery? Or “anti-aging” skin products?
Our friends in the anti-ageism community tend to frown on any commercial attempt to look younger as unnecessary and a disturbing symptom of our ageist society – but it seems older consumers disagree. In a perfect world, people wouldn’t care about their appearance as they age, but that world doesn’t exist – and I think we would fix other idealistic notions first if we could… you know, like world peace.
One of the top lessons every successful marketer learns at some point is that you’re not trying to change people’s minds. If people believe looking younger than their chronological age is better for their happiness and well-being, that’s not likely to change. But how you speak to older consumers about that belief matters quite a bit.
Making older people feel bad about themselves is not likely to work. Inadequacy messages get tuned out by most people these days, but especially by older folks. Empowerment marketing is what works, and this research actually proves it.
Old-school inadequacy marketing works when it’s aimed directly at the negative emotions that result from the discrepancy between who we see ourselves as and who we want to or should be. As we get older, though, our brains are less responsive to negativity than those of younger people (specifically in the amygdala, the area of the brain that consolidates emotion and memory).
I’m a firm believer that older people who want to improve their appearance are doing so less out of societal pressure and more based on how they want to present themselves. It may seem a subtle distinction, but it makes all the difference for the type of messages that people will respond best to when it comes to how they want to look.
For personal development, health, and career goals, “should” messages often get tuned out. When people genuinely want to change, it’s usually in pursuit of some aspect of their ideal selves instead of out of obligation. And helping people become who they want to be is inherently an act of empowerment.
Older people want to look their best just like most everyone else, and when they do it results in real improvements in their attitude about aging and therefore about themselves. Telling people they shouldn’t care about appearance in that context sounds both ridiculous and cruel. But that also means you need to think carefully about the tone and substance of your messages in this area to avoid being ignored by speaking in terms of inadequacy, which is cruel and ultimately poor marketing.
That’s all for now. Have a great rest of the week!
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Michael Keaton does look great. Someone asked me who I thought looked great at the Oscars and I said Jamie Lee Curtis. Yes, she had an amazing black dress on which showed off her figure. And she's anti-plastic surgery, frequently goes without makeup and frequently uses her platform to lift up other women. That's aging well IMHO!