Younger and older adults’ aging well construals: A quantitative word use and topics comparison

Introduction: Individuals’ construals of aging capture how they think of aging, and what aging well means to them. Assessing such construals is important for understanding attitudes towards aging and, ultimately, how to tailor personalized aging well interventions to an individual. Methods: We analyzed 100 younger adults and 92 older adults’ spoken narratives of what aging well means to them using two language analysis approaches, closed vocabulary, word-count analysis via Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) and open vocabulary, word-co-occurrence analysis via topic modelling. Results: Younger and older adults’ spoken narratives differed in both word and topic use. Younger adults used more words related to physical aspects, more tentative language, and expressed themselves via higher status language (clout), while older adults used authentic language, i-talk, and words related to work, home, family, and religion. Topic modelling complemented the LIWC analyses and showed that younger adults primarily discussed topics of bodily and cognitive decline, and strategies of preventing aging, conveying concerns about, and negative stereotypes of aging. Older adults topicalized family reflections, openness to new experiences, and their social engagement, signaling a more positive outlook on (continued) aging. Conclusion: Our complimentary word-count and word-co-occurrence language analyses of aging well construals revealed stark differences between younger and older adults’ perceptions of aging well, that raise important questions about intergenerational exchanges and communications about aging more broadly. Further, we found that aging construals of older adults are useful for estimating their future outlook, an important aspect of resilience against cognitive decline and possible entry point for targeted precision aging interventions.