Yale Study Links Positive Aging Views to 7.6 More Years of Life
Updated
Updated · spacedaily.com · Jun 10
Yale Study Links Positive Aging Views to 7.6 More Years of Life
3 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · Jun 10
Summary
A 2002 Yale-led study of 660 adults aged 50 and older found people with more positive self-perceptions of aging lived about 7.6 years longer than peers with more negative views.
Up to 23 years before survival was analyzed, participants had already recorded their attitudes toward aging, giving researchers a long time horizon for the association.
Becca Levy said the link may partly reflect will to live, stress effects and healthier behavior, though the research is correlational and does not prove attitudes directly extend life.
The study announcement said the lifespan gap exceeded associations seen for low systolic blood pressure and cholesterol—each tied to four years or less—highlighting how strongly age beliefs may track later health.