Why do we often feel younger in our heads than we actually are? Is it beneficial? The answers of Nathalie Bailly, social psychologist.
Top health: Where does this desire to appear young come from?
Nathalie Bailly: The need to keep a positive image of oneself, knowing that our industrial societies have a very negative representation of advancing age. Indeed, seen for a long time through a purely medical filter, it is often considered as a set of losses: physical form, cognitive abilities, health, loved ones, etc. (although this is not always true).
To counteract this negative representation – integrated in an unconscious way – a defense mechanism is to try to maintain a young identity; youth being associated with positive values: beauty, performance, health, etc. Hence the craze for wrinkle creams, Botox injections and cosmetic surgery!
Top health: Is this need to stay young more important in women?
Nathalie Bailly: It is less nowadays! For a long time, there has been a negative look – masculine – on women. Women were mostly judged on their appearance (beauty, sensuality …). Hence greater pressure for her to stay young so as not to be portrayed negatively by society. Today, the representation of women – even older women – is changing and is no longer based exclusively on appearance. And now, even if women still tend to want to stay young, so do men! As evidenced by the arrival of anti-aging products for men, for example.
Does this need to appear young explain the discrepancy between our official age and that in our heads?
Nathalie Bailly: Yes, but only in part. Evaluated simply by asking the question ” How old do you think you are inside of you? “, And corresponding to what psychologists call a” rejuvenation bias “, this” subjective “age depends on the combination of several factors: the need to stay young, but also the fact of being in good health or not, a serious illness that can appear to take ten years at once; self-esteem which, if important, “rejuvenates”; the comparison made with others that we think are better or less well “preserved” than us; etc. Recent work, published in the journal “The Gerontologist” in 2020, which concerned 3,738 Americans, showed that after the appearance of Covid-19, respondents felt on average younger! This “rejuvenation” would constitute a psychological defense mechanism against aging, a complication risk factor in the event of infection with the new coronavirus.
Is “rejuvenation bias” common?
Nathalie Bailly: Yes ! Especially after 40 years. And the older we get, the more the gap between this subjective age and our true age widens: work carried out by Denis Guiot, marketing researcher at Paris-Dauphine University, has shown that on average 40-49 year olds are getting younger. from 8 years old, 50-59 year olds from 12 years old and 60-75 year olds from 14 years old. There is also a tendency to age. But this “aging bias” mainly concerns those under 25, who, very young, want to appear more mature … Afterwards, some older people may feel older than they are. However, this state of mind is often transient, and linked to a difficult period, in terms of health or private or professional life, such as bereavement or serious illness.
Can feeling younger in your head be beneficial?
Nathalie Bailly: Completely ! Several studies have shown that “rejuvenation bias” is associated with better self-esteem, greater well-being and better quality of life. In work published in 2021, Australian psychologists looked at data from 24 studies on this topic, and concluded that younger subjective age was also correlated with better cognitive performance and reduced symptoms of depression. Conversely, feeling older than you are is associated with a decrease in all of these parameters.
And in terms of physical health?
Nathalie Bailly: The psychological benefits that flow from a younger subjective age can affect physical health. Knowing that it is now well established that the mind influences the body – and vice versa. Moreover, feeling in your head that you are, for example, 35 years old when you are 45 can encourage you to maintain the musculature or endurance of your 35 years old … and therefore to stay in good physical condition!
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