Perks to Lying About Your Age?

In an article by Jen Christensen of CNN, she discusses how people who fib about their age are among a population of people who have a lower death rate! These rates are compared to those who claim to actually feel the age listed on their birth certificate or even older.

“The study looked at data from from 6,489 people with an average age of 65.8 years who reported that they felt a little less than 10 years younger. What’s interesting is most people in the study didn’t feel like their actual age. Most said they felt about three years younger. Only a tiny percent, some 4.8%, felt at least a year older than their actual age.

When University College London researchers followed up on these people over the next eight years, the scientists found only a little over 14% of those who felt younger than their years had died. That was compared with the more than 24% of the people who reported feeling older or feeling their age who had died. Some 18% of the people who felt like their chronological age died in that same time period” (Christensen, CNN).

With this information, researchers wanted to learn more. They came up with certain possible reasons as to why the group that felt younger than their age were living longer: maintaining a healthy weight, taking medical advice seriously and even by having a stronger will to live were some.

Physician and assistant professor of medicine at Emory University, Dr. Sharon Bergquist, isn’t surprised at all by the results of the study. She says, “research is showing us that personality can so be tied to your destiny.”

Latest research into correlation between personality and aging has found that there are two factors in helping people live longer: conscientiousness and optimism. Those possessing both qualities might have a stronger will to live healthier.