Rupprecht Fiona S, Martin Kristina, Lang Frieder R
Institute of Psychogerontology, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Kobergerstr. 62, 90408 Nuremberg, Germany.
Eur J Ageing. 2021 Nov 22;19(3):587-597. doi: 10.1007/s10433-021-00661-3. eCollection 2022 Sep.
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 [ = 1065 and = 591; ages ranging from 18 to 95 years, (SD) = 58.1 (17.2) years, (SD) = 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.
对各个方面的恐惧往往会促使个体逃避或避开威胁源。我们得出的结论是，与未来衰老过程相关的恐惧，比如对与衰老相关疾病的恐惧、对老年孤独的恐惧以及对死亡的恐惧，在理想预期寿命方面会引发回避模式。我们预计对与衰老相关疾病的恐惧和对老年孤独的恐惧与较低的理想预期寿命相关。我们预计对死亡的恐惧与较高的理想预期寿命相关。在两个成年人寿命样本中（(n = 1065)和(n = 591)；年龄范围为18至95岁，(M)（标准差）(= 58.1)（17.2）岁，(M)（标准差）(= 52.6)（18.1）岁），我们能够支持关于对死亡恐惧的假设。我们还发现这些恐惧之间存在显著的相互作用，这表明那些害怕疾病或孤独但不害怕死亡的个体选择了最短的寿命。我们的结果表明，对高龄生活的恐惧可能与希望避开这个年龄段有关；然而，对死亡的恐惧与对特别长寿的愿望有关，因此，与远离可怕的死亡事件有关。我们得出的结论是，恐惧似乎与个体如何看待老年以及他们作为老年人对自己未来的期望有关。
