Levy Becca R, Ashman Ori, Slade Martin D
School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8034, USA.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2009 May;64(3):335-8. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbp002. Epub 2009 Apr 1.
Older Americans often attribute health problems to old age, rather than to extenuating circumstances. Previous studies of Americans found that age attributions predict adverse health outcomes. We examined whether culture influences both the tendency to make age attributions and their effect on aging health. We found that (a) Japanese were significantly more likely to make age attributions than Americans; (b) age attributions were significantly associated with worse functional health among older Americans, but not older Japanese; (c) interdependence was significantly higher among older Japanese; and (d) older participants higher in interdependence were less likely to experience the association between greater age attributions and worse functional health. This study suggests the association is not inevitable when culture provides a countervailing force.
美国老年人常常将健康问题归咎于年老，而非情有可原的情况。此前针对美国人的研究发现，年龄归因预示着不良的健康结果。我们研究了文化是否会影响做出年龄归因的倾向及其对老年健康的影响。我们发现：（a）日本人比美国人更有可能做出年龄归因；（b）年龄归因与美国老年人较差的功能健康显著相关，但与日本老年人无关；（c）日本老年人的相互依存度显著更高；（d）相互依存度较高的老年参与者不太可能经历年龄归因增加与功能健康较差之间的关联。这项研究表明，当文化提供一种抵消力量时，这种关联并非不可避免。
