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. 2021 Nov 22;19(3):587-597.
doi: 10.1007/s10433-021-00661-3. eCollection 2022 Sep.

Aging-related fears and their associations with ideal life expectancy

Fiona S Rupprecht  1 , Kristina Martin  1 , Frieder R Lang  1
Affiliations

Aging-related fears and their associations with ideal life expectancy

Fiona S Rupprecht et al. Eur J Ageing. .

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 [N 1 = 1065 and N 2 = 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.

Keywords: Aging-related fears; Fear of death; Ideal life expectancy; Longevity desires.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict interestThe authors report no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Interaction of fear of death and fear of diseases in predicting ideal life expectancy
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Interaction of fear of death and fear of loneliness in predicting ideal life expectancy
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Interaction of fear of death and fear of loneliness in predicting subjective life expectancy discordance
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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