theconsciousmindtoapprehend.
The groupsexposedto negative
terms– suchas‘decline’,‘decrepit’
and‘confused’– sawa spikeinblood
pressureandanincreasedheartrate.
Participantsprimedwithpositive
stereotypeslike‘astute’,‘wise’and
‘accomplished’calmeddown.
“Wewonderedhowthatmightop-
erateinthecommunityovertime,”
Lev ysays– a questionthatledtoan-
othereye-openingstudyin2009.In
it,Lev yanalysedsurveydatafrom
440 subjectsoftheBaltimoreLongi-
tudinalStudyofAgeing– oneofthe
world’slongestrunningageingstud-
ies– whowerebetween 18 and49.
Shefoundthatthosewhoagreed
withgloomy opinions ofageing
sufferedtwiceasmanyheartevents–
frommini-strokestocongestiveheart
failure– asthosewhohadabsorbed
rosierones.
Evenaftercontrollingforevery
factorshecouldthinkof– fromdiet
andsmokinghabitstodepression
andfamilyhistory– Lev yfoundthat
thesubjects’thoughtsonageing were
stillofhugesignificance.
WHATMIGHTEXPLAINthe dra-
maticphysiologicaleffectsofsome-
thingasineffableasthoughtsabout
gettingold?
Ourattitudes,consciousornot,
driveourroutinesandlifestyle– a
factLev ybelievesisa factorinher
studies’outcomes.“Ifpeoplehold
more negative views of ageing, they
maybelesslikelytowalktheextra
blockorengageinhealthybehav-
ioursastheygetolder,becausethey
tendtothinkofpoorhealthlaterin
lifeasinevitable,”shesays.
AccordingtoHarvardpsychologist
EllenLanger– whohascollaborated
withLevyinthepast– thediscon-
nectbetweenyoungpeopleandtheir
future selves also comes into play.“Peopleunder 40 don’tthinkofthem-
selvesasgettingolder,”shesays,
explainingthatthiscouldprevent
themfromdevelopingbehaviours
thatbenefitthemlater.
Andindeed,in2011,psychologist
HalHershfield,nowatUCLA,showed
thatwhenpeoplewereurgedtothink
abouttheirlater-in-lifeselves,they
allocatedmoreresources forthe
future– suchassquirrellingaway
moremoneyfortheirretirement.In
anotherofhisstudies,subjectswho
werenudgedintoconsideringtheir
futurebywritingalettertothem-
selves 20 yearsdowntheroad beefed
up their exercise routines.AGEISMEVEN
AFFECTSTHINGS
YOUWOULDN’T
EXPECT,SUCHAS
HANDWRITINGAND
MEMORY91
“Old People Should...”