IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eujoag/v19y2022i3d10.1007_s10433-021-00661-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Aging-related fears and their associations with ideal life expectancy

Author

Listed:
  • Fiona S. Rupprecht

    (Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)

  • Kristina Martin

    (Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)

  • Frieder R. Lang

    (Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)

Abstract

Fears regarding various aspects tend to stimulate individuals to escape or to avoid the sources of the threat. We concluded that fears associated with the future aging process, like the fear of aging-related diseases, the fear of loneliness in old age, and the fear of death, would stimulate patterns of avoidance when it comes to ideal life expectancy. We expected fear of aging-related diseases and fear of loneliness in old age to be related to lower ideal life expectancies. We expected fear of death to be related to higher ideal life expectancies. In two adult lifespan samples [N1 = 1065 and N2 = 591; ages ranging from 18 to 95 years, M (SD)1 = 58.1 (17.2) years, M (SD)2 = 52.6 (18.1) years], we were able to support our hypothesis regarding fear of death. We furthermore found significant interactions among the fears, indicating that individuals fearing diseases or loneliness but being unafraid of death opted for the shortest lives. Our results indicate that fears regarding life in very old age might be associated with the wish to avoid this age period; the fear of death was however associated with the wish for particularly long lives, and thus, with distancing oneself from the dreaded event of death. We conclude that fears seem to be associated with how individuals approach old age and with what they wish for in their own future as aged people.

Suggested Citation

  • Fiona S. Rupprecht & Kristina Martin & Frieder R. Lang, 2022. "Aging-related fears and their associations with ideal life expectancy," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 587-597, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:19:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s10433-021-00661-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10433-021-00661-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10433-021-00661-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10433-021-00661-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jacqui Smith & Alexandra M. Freund, 2002. "The Dynamics of Possible Selves in Old Age," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 57(6), pages 492-500.
    2. Victor G. Cicirelli, 2006. "Fear of Death in Mid-Old Age," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 61(2), pages 75-81.
    3. Frieder R. Lang & Paul B. Baltes & Gert G. Wagner, 2007. "Desired Lifetime and End-of-Life Desires Across Adulthood From 20 to 90: A Dual-Source Information Model," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 62(5), pages 268-276.
    4. Catherine E. Bowen & Eva-Marie Kessler & Julia Segler, 2019. "Dementia worry in middle-aged and older adults in Germany: sociodemographic, health-related and psychological correlates," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 39-52, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jisung Park & Juh Hyun Shin, 2021. "Factors Influencing the Dementia-Preventive Behaviors among Middle-Aged Persons with Chronic Diseases in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-9, March.
    2. Rhoads Christopher H., 2012. "Problems with Tests of the Missingness Mechanism in Quantitative Policy Studies," Statistics, Politics and Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 3(1), pages 1-25, March.
    3. Ulrich Schimmack & Jürgen Schupp & Gert Wagner, 2008. "The Influence of Environment and Personality on the Affective and Cognitive Component of Subjective Well-being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 89(1), pages 41-60, October.
    4. Milla Saajanaho & Merja Rantakokko & Erja Portegijs & Timo Törmäkangas & Johanna Eronen & Li-Tang Tsai & Marja Jylhä & Taina Rantanen, 2016. "Life resources and personal goals in old age," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 195-208, September.
    5. PV AshaRani & Damien Lai & JingXuan Koh & Mythily Subramaniam, 2022. "Purpose in Life in Older Adults: A Systematic Review on Conceptualization, Measures, and Determinants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-25, May.
    6. Lang, Frieder R. & John, Dennis & Lüdtke, Oliver & Schupp, Jürgen & Wagner, Gert G., 2011. "Short Assessment of the Big Five: Robust Across Survey Methods Except Telephone Interviewing," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 43(2), pages 548-567.
    7. Kuppelwieser, Volker G. & Sarstedt, Marko, 2014. "Exploring the influence of customers' time horizon perspectives on the satisfaction–loyalty link," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(12), pages 2620-2627.
    8. Chengedzai Mafini & Daniel Meyer, 2016. "Societal Factors and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from Low Income Urban Societies in a Developing Country," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 8(3), pages 87-100.
    9. Perla Werner & Sarang Kim, 2022. "How Are Sociodemographic, Health, Psychological, and Cognitive Factors Associated with Dementia Worry? An Online Survey Study among Israeli and Australian Laypeople," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-9, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:19:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s10433-021-00661-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.