A new study tests the idea that traditional societies see aging in a more positive light than modern societies, a presumption supported by anecdotes and personal narratives but lacking systematic cross-cultural research.
In a study designed to measure perceptions of aging, researchers found that Tsimané Amazonian forager-farmers viewed old people as having better memories than young people, while people in Poland and the United States viewed the young as having better memories.
In other variables, the researchers found more consensus across the different groups. For example, all three societies perceived older people as being more respected and generally wiser about life issues than younger people.
“There have been anecdotal reports and theoretical reasoning that people in traditional societies look at aging more favorably,” says Corinna Löckenhoff, associate professor of human development at Cornell University and associate professor of gerontology in medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City.
However, this is the first study of aging perceptions to gather quantitative data and to use the same questions across modern and traditional societies, Löckenhoff says.
Coauthors from the University of Wroclaw, Poland, did all the fieldwork and collected data, while Löckenhoff provided the theoretical underpinnings and study-design considerations.
In the study, the researchers showed participants a photo of a young person and a photo of the same person that had been digitally altered to make him or her look older. Participants were then asked a series of questions to assess their attitudes toward aging.
These questions tested such perceptions of aging as respect received (whose opinion is more respected?); wisdom; life satisfaction (who is more satisfied with their life?); memory (who is more forgetful?); and new learning. In response, participants were asked to point at the older or younger face.
