Looking age-appropriate while growing old gracefully: A qualitative study of ageing and body image among older adults

Abstract

Body dissatisfaction can be significantly detrimental to wellbeing. Little is known about older adults’ body image, despite the fact that ageing causes unique bodily changes and that sociocultural pressures to resist these changes abound. We conducted six focus groups with a UK community sample of White British and South Asian older adults aged 65–92 years. Thematic analysis highlighted four themes: appearance indicates capability and identity; physical ability trumps appearance; felt pressures to age ‘gracefully’ while resisting appearance changes; and gender and cultural differences. These findings suggest that older adults’ body image can have important implications for their wellbeing and merits researchers’ attention.

Body dissatisfaction, appearance investment, and wellbeing: How older obese men orient to "aesthetic health".

“…The few qualitative studies to date have emphasised men's concerns about physical capacity over appearance (e.g. Drummond, 2003;Ojala, Calasanti, King & Pietila, 2013), as well as the need for individual men and women to negotiate between looking 'ageappropriate' on the one hand while attempting to combat age-related bodily changes on the other (Jankowski et al, 2014b).…”

La Satisfacción Corporal en Adultos Españoles, Influencia del Sexo, Edad y Estado Ponderal

“…En este estudio, la preocupación por la IC presenta una correlación inversa con la percepción del estado de salud, en este sentido, la evidencia apoya el papel de la IsC en el riesgo de las enfermedades crónicas y el bienestar de los adultos mayores (Fiske et al, 2014;Jankowski, Diedrichs, Williamson, Christopher, & Harcourt, 2016). Roy y Payette (2012) describen la asociación entre la salud física y mental y la satisfacción corporal.…”

The experiences of older adults living with an appearance altering burn injury: An exploratory qualitative study

“…Participants discussed how they engaged in strategies to disguise, conceal or draw attention away from their burn injuries, although Louise was also particularly mindful that she needed to maintain an appearance that would be considered age-appropriate, in keeping with findings by Jankowski et al (2014). At the same time, participants engaged in appearance-enhancing strategies that were not related to their burn, in order to mask the signs of ageing because they felt that ageing and looking older was perceived negatively in society (Hurd-Clarke, 2010).…”

“…Indeed, in one study, women aged between 50-70 discussed how ageing made them feel socially invisible and they reported engaging in appearance-enhancing strategies in response to this (e.g., hair-dye) which they felt increased their visibility and self-esteem (HurdClarke & Griffin, 2008). At the same time older adults (aged 65-92) have also reported societal pressure to look age appropriate (Jankowski et al, 2014). Nevertheless, the importance placed on physical appearance may reduce with age because body competence (e.g., physical coordination, agility and health) is considered more of a priority and concerns with these functional aspects of the body increase with age (Baker & Gringart, 2009;Jankowski et al, 2014).…”

“…At the same time older adults (aged 65-92) have also reported societal pressure to look age appropriate (Jankowski et al, 2014). Nevertheless, the importance placed on physical appearance may reduce with age because body competence (e.g., physical coordination, agility and health) is considered more of a priority and concerns with these functional aspects of the body increase with age (Baker & Gringart, 2009;Jankowski et al, 2014).…”