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The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences Advance Access originally published online on April 1, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 2009 64B(3):335-338; doi:10.1093/geronb/gbp002
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Age Attributions and Aging Health: Contrast Between the United States and Japan

Becca R. Levy1, Ori Ashman2 and Martin D. Slade1

1 School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
2 Department of Applied Social Studies, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Address correspondence to Becca R. Levy, Yale School of Public Health, 60 College Street, PO Box 208034, New Haven, CT 06520-8034. Email: becca.levy{at}yale.edu


  Abstract

Older Americans often attribute health problems to old age, rather than to extenuating circumstances. Previous studies of Americans found that age attributions predict adverse health outcomes. We examined whether culture influences both the tendency to make age attributions and their effect on aging health. We found that (a) Japanese were significantly more likely to make age attributions than Americans; (b) age attributions were significantly associated with worse functional health among older Americans, but not older Japanese; (c) interdependence was significantly higher among older Japanese; and (d) older participants higher in interdependence were less likely to experience the association between greater age attributions and worse functional health. This study suggests the association is not inevitable when culture provides a countervailing force.

Key Words: Aging • Japan • Attribution • Culture • Health

Received January 9, 2008; Accepted December 23, 2008

Decision Editor: Rosemary Blieszner, PhD


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