Most Older Adults Feel Decades Younger Than They Are

For seniors, the difference between actual age and perceived age has some interesting consequences

Some seniors may take up activities their family members find odd for their age. Jordan Whitt/Unsplash

How old do you feel inside? Not your chronological age (that pesky number on your birthday cake) but how old is the real you, the person inside?

In North America, we generally group people into socially constructed age ranges such as childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, and old age. Age categories are associated with different rights and privileges, and attached to these age categories are behavioral expectations. For example, old people are supposedly expected to be frail and helpless.