Abstract
The general objective of this article is to critically review the state of the art regarding current factors accounting for aging, longevity and successful longevity. There are two major constructs which most authors are employing to account for longevity: genetic or intrinsic components versus environmental or extrinsic factors. This classification has important flaws: (i) From an epigenetic standpoint, such a polar classification could lead to misconceptions since both factors are interdependent through lifelong interactions. (ii) There are no specifications regarding these “environmental” factors, which include a broad heterogeneity of conditions (physical, economic, social, and cultural aspects as well as behavioral ones such as lifestyle) but do not include personal conditions, such as psychological characteristics. The review of the new paradigm called successful aging yields an important set of psycho-behavioral factors, and although population indexes such as Disability Free Life Expectancy (DFLE) or Healthy Life expectancy (HLE) have been developed, authors do not take into consideration healthy or successful longevity as a potential prolongation of the new paradigm of active or successful aging. There is a broad corpus of research literature supporting the importance of psycho-behavioral (PB) factors intervening in the ways of aging, specifically intelligence and cognitive functioning, positive emotion and control, personality traits, psychosocial, physical conditions, and lifestyles, all of which are highly associated with active aging, health, longevity, and survival. The importance of these factors accounting for longevity, and successful longevity must be taken into consideration as a pending issue in gerontology.
Highlights
Specialty section: This article was submitted to Developmental Psychology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology
The review of the new paradigm called successful aging yields an important set of psycho-behavioral factors, and population indexes such as Disability Free Life Expectancy (DFLE) or Healthy Life expectancy (HLE) have been developed, authors do not take into consideration healthy or successful longevity as a potential prolongation of the new paradigm of active or successful aging
Let us only mention here, from an epigenetic standpoint, that this polar classification could lead to misconceptions in the field since both factors are interdependent, in other words, intrinsic or genetic factors are to some extent influenced by extrinsic or environmental conditions, and the latter could be partially explained by the former
Summary
Bio-demographers, biologists, sociologists, gerontologists and other experts on aging attribute 20 to 25% of longevity to genetic components and 75 to 80% to environmental factors. While socio-environmental and personal conditions must be considered separately and in interaction, their relative contribution remains unknown; and, perhaps most importantly, this issue has been neglected by the diverse disciplines involved and by psychology and psychologists In spite of these flaws, two major constructs have been considered when trying to explain why some people live longer and more healthily than others: genetic or intrinsic components (i.e., biomedical) and environmental or extrinsic factors both have been the subject of research interest and investment in empirical studies. It is important to underline that this is an exception; there are very few studies taking PB factors into account from a bio-demography perspective which analyze data regarding the relative contribution of G and E, including PB factors of longevity and survival as well as the interactions among all of them along the life span It seems that this could be a result of the older biomedical sciences, so well-established in the field of aging, neglecting relevant impulses from the younger psychology. Databases are readily available, and big data allows the most sophisticated analysis; the interdisciplinary scientific community, including psychologists, are called to contribute to this enterprise
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