Defining Aging: Chronological and Biological Age

We all hold a specific idea of what "aging" means, usually based on our individual experiences with parents, grandparents, or other older relatives. As an example of this, I would like you to list eight adjectives or qualities that come to mind when you think about "aging." Write whatever comes to mind in the space below.

1.	5.
2.	6.
3.	7.
4.	8.

What items do you have on your list?

You probably have words like "old," "65," "dependent," "frail," "retired," "gray hair," "golfing," "grandparent," "Alzheimer’s disease," "wrinkles," "bus trips to Atlantic City," "nursing home," "bingo," and "golden years." Let us think a minute about what these words say about our values and expectations of aging.

First, notice that you likely have indicated a chronological age that you associate with the start of "aging," the number of birthdays that have to pass before one becomes "old." Since the passage of the Social Security Act in 1935, age 65 has increasingly come to define when one becomes aged because that is when individuals qualify for full income-maintenance payments under the current benefit scheme. As we will discuss later in this course, the near-universal coverage under the Social Security system means that this age is meaningful for almost the whole population. Many private pension programs also use 65 as the age criterion for benefits as well, another testament to its pervasiveness. However, as we will see in this course, chronological age does little more than define the passage of time, as the more salient aspects of "aging" are not strictly determined by chronological age.

Second, you have also likely listed some physical changes, such as graying hair, wrinkles, menopause and the loss of various functional abilities that lead to "dependence." Although biological aging is an inevitable process that occurs from the moment that we are born, we often do not think of the changes earlier in the lifespan as "aging" per se. Growth during childhood certainly is part of the aging process, but we tend to equate aging with physical decline. For example, many middle-aged adults, those in their 40s and 50s, identify Alzheimer’s disease as a dominant fear about growing older—an indication of just how much we equate decline with aging. These physiological changes tend to coincide with our chronological age, but the rate of biological aging varies from person to person. Can you ever recall having met someone who "looked young" for his or her age? This is a statement about biological aging. This is often one of the most salient aspects of aging in our culture as is evidenced by the plethora of cosmetic products designed to "erase wrinkles" and "stop balding," and by the rapid increase in cosmetic surgery designed to keep skin taut and bodies lean. Although a great deal of recent research has shown that many of these physical declines are not inevitable, and are linked to lifestyle and stress, we continue to think that declines in physical functioning are the defining characteristic of aging. Thus in addition to chronological age, we all hold assumptions about how older persons look and function—ideas about biological aging.