Of those five, the study found age identity and aging anxieties played the largest role in accounting for younger women’s lower emotional well-being than that of older women’s. The younger women had greater anxiety about aging, particularly as it related to declines in health and attractiveness.
“It points to the relevance of ageism to all of us — across our lives,” Barrett said. “It also highlights the need for visibility and positive representations of older women across all domains of life — in the media, in politics and other arenas.”
Researchers also found that middle-age and older women engaged in a strategy that enhanced their own emotional well-being: They maintain youthful perceptions of themselves. In fact, these views become more age-discrepant as they grow older. For instance, if you ask a 45-year-old woman how old she feels, she might say 40 and if you ask a 75-year-old the same question she might say 65.
Researchers used the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States to conduct their research. More than 3,000 people nationwide between the ages of 25 and 74 were given an extensive questionnaire, covering the areas of social responsibility, psychological well-being, and physical health. The group was surveyed twice, first in 1995-1996 and then again 10 years later between 2004-2006.
“We focus on women because their decline in status as they age is steeper than men’s,” Barrett said. “For example, they face more age discrimination in the workplace and feel more pressure to mask signs of aging. This double standard of aging pointed us to a novel explanation for older women’s better emotional well-being, compared with younger women.”
Barrett said extensions of the study could examine how women in other systems of inequality, like race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and sexual minority status might experience aging and what implications that might have for their emotional well-being.
