X-Message-Number: 30640 From: David Stodolsky <> Subject: Pro- and Anti-Longevity Attitudes Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:40:06 +0100 This is a summary of the Kogan et al. longevity studies. Extending the Human Life Span: Assessing Pro- and Anti-Longevity Attitudes "The major aim of this research was the construction and application of a questionnaire whose items incorporate the themes represented in the bioethical debates. The following seven content categories served as guidelines for the derivation of questionnaires items. 1. Life extension as prolonging disease, disability, and other drawbacks. 2. Life extension as improving quality and satisfaction with life. 3. The impact of life extension on intergenerational relationships. 4. The utility or disutility of supporting pro-longevity research. 5. The disruption vs. enhancement of life goals. 6. Effects of life extension on work, retirement, and the economy. 7. Acceptance vs. rejection of deprivation in the pursuit of life extension. " The Life Extension Questionnaire (LEQ) was used in two studies and an additional set of questions was added to the second survey in order to assess Subjective Well-Being/Age. Some of this is quoted from the draft: Kogan, Tucker, & Porter. (in revision). Extending the Human Life Span: Assessing Pro- and Anti-Longevity Attitudes. (Any citations/ quotations should be cleared with the author.) Demographic variables correlated with overall Pro-longevity attitudes: The age of the respondent was related to life-extension attitudes (r =. 46, p <.001), the older respondents tilting in the pro-longevity direction. Pro-longevity attitudes were strongest in the separated-divorced group and weakest in the single group (p<.05). Factors derived from the LEQ: I. Personal Emotional Rejection (PER) reflects a harsh rejection of life extension with endorsement of items focused on pointlessness and waste, and contrary-to-nature aspects of extending life span. Other items reflect the personal cost of life extension (e.g., delaying commitments or prolonging goals, inducing boredom). II. Utopian Vision (UV) points to the many advantages of life extension for older people and for society at large. III. Social Economic Burden (SEB) highlights the economic burdens on the individual and the health-care system flowing from life extension. The highest loading items stress preference for health over longer life and a fear of financial dependency for the individual, and exhaustion of resources for the society. Age was significant for each of the factors. For Factor I (PER), r = -.49, p < .001; for Factor II (UV), r = .33, p < .001; for Factor III (SEB), r = -.23, p < .001. The older the adult, the more likely is he or she to reject the harsh negativity toward life extension reflected by the items loading on factor I. Correspondingly, chronological age is positively associated with endorsement of items that promise a Utopian future with life extension (Factor II). Finally, the outcome for Factor III is somewhat counterintuitive as we observe that older adults are significantly more disposed to endorse anti-longevity items. These items concern the added costs of health-care and social welfare and hence raise the possibility of exhaustion of financial resources. Education: Two of the three factor are modestly but significantly related to education level. The Utopian Vision factor is inversely related to education (r =-.19, p <.02). The more highly educated apparently tend to not find the Utopian Vision entirely convincing. The Social Economic Burden factor also bears a negative relationship with education (r =-.22, p <.01). This suggests that the more highly educated are not convinced that additional years of life will impose an undue burden on the social-welfare and health-care systems. Study 2 (Retired adults): Males were somewhat more likely than females to endorse pro-longevity items (r = .22, p < .05) and reject anti-longevity items (r = - .17, p < .10). General factor: 1. How would you describe your health? 2. How do you feel about your life as a whole? 3. Regarding your future which one of the following statements do you think best applies to you? 4. Comparing yourself to most people of your chronological age, do you feel? Sub-factors derived from the above: A. Subjective Well-Being (SWB) B. Subjective Age (SA) Participants who endorse more prolongevity items on the LEQ tend to be more satisfied with life and more optimistic, and perceive themselves as younger than their age peers, and as having more years left in their lifetime. In respect to the LEQ factors, higher scorers on Utopian Vision tend to have a lower Subjective Age score (i.e., younger than age peers and more years left to live). The correlation between the overall mean prolongevity score and the general factor achieved significance at the .001 level (r = .32). The general factor also correlated significantly with the Utopian Vision factor (r =.20, p <.05, 2- tailed). Of the positive survey items, these were the most stable across the studies: Longevity improving life more time for goals Extending life giving respect to old age Longevity research as duty to future generations Long Term Relationship (LTR) quality will increase with longevity Society will benefit from greater wisdom Increase budget for this research Other positive items from the LEQ: Favor longevity research even if product unaffordable Extend life to have more leisure time Estimate satisfaction greater at age 110 than 75 Families benefit from cross-generation interaction dss David Stodolsky Skype: davidstodolsky Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=30640