We're all pretty familiar with the stigma surrounding aging. We're constantly talking and reading about ways to fight wrinkles and signs of aging—and as the years go by, people tend to get harder on themselves if they become forgetful. But while it's easy to dismiss something as a "senior moment," whether you've forgotten where you put your keys or missed a birthday, experts and science say that we should think differently about these "missteps."
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In a recent segment on CBS Sunday Morning, actor Jane Fonda, 86, and anti-ageism advocate Ashton Applewhite discussed the secrets of aging, telling viewers that they're actually being "robbed of 7.5 years" of life.
In the clip posted on YouTube, Fonda and Applewhite reference research conducted by Yale professor Becca Levy, PhD, an expert on the psychology of successful aging. In 2002, Levy and her fellow researchers published a study that followed 660 participants over the age of 50 for nearly two decades, finding an association between positive age beliefs and longevity. (Levy also discussed findings in her 2022 book Breaking the Age Code.)
"People with more positive age beliefs lived an average of 7.5 years longer than people who equated aging with disease and decline," Applewhite summarized.
Fonda added, "In other words, one way to live longer is just to have a good attitude."
However, the actor pointed out that society "is doing literally everything it can to make sure we don't have a good attitude," referencing the beauty industry and ageist ideas we see on the news. In reality, there's much to look forward to with age—and there's even such a thing as the "U-Curve of Happiness," which shows that people are happiest at the beginning and the end of their lives, Applewhite said.
"People assume we'll end up in the nursing homes when in fact, less than 3 percent of us do," Fonda continued in the clip. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this figure is even lower, with just 1.3 million Americans residing in nursing homes as of 2020.
"Of course, that doesn't stop us from talking about our 'senior moments,'" Fonda added.
Applewhite equated this belief to forgetting something at a young age and calling it a "junior moment."
Recharacterizing senior moments as instances of success can help improve your perception of aging. Fonda referenced Barbara Hillary, the first Black woman to reach the North Pole. She did so when she was 75, arguably making it a "senior moment." Fonda even said that she's excited for her own big "senior moment."
"So much of your life gets better as you age. We get less stressed; we become kinder to ourselves and braver; we're less judgmental; and best of all, we stop caring so much about what other people think of us, which, believe me, saves a lot of time," Fonda said.
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To achieve this, you don't need to be in perfect health or money: You need a community.
Fonda and Applewhite recommend art classes, referencing a study conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts. In the study, the council found that older adults who attended art classes had higher cognition levels, lower rates of limitations in daily physical functioning, and lower rates of high blood pressure.
This doesn't have to be "art" in the traditional sense, either. Applewhite says you can take something like a class on DJing or graffiti.
