Survival in Old Age: Physical, Psychological and Social Correlates of Longevity*

A bstract : This study involved a sub‐group of a panel of community volunteers—37 long‐lived persons (20 men, 17 women) and 37 short‐lived persons (20 men, 17 women). The findings suggest that group characteristics of long‐term survivors differ sharply from those of short‐term survivors in old age. Moreover, it seems that there is no single factor which contributes to longevity; rather, there is a constellation of biological, psychological, and social factors amounting to what may be best described as elite ***status. Persons with high intelligence, sound financial status, well‐maintained health, and intact marriages may be expected to live significantly longer than their less intelligent and poorer brothers and sisters whose health is also declining and whose marriages are no longer intact. Many of the factors identified here as contributing to longevity are not readily subject to individual, social, or political manipulation, with the possible exception of financial factors. It is hoped that investigations in other parts of the country and with differing populations of elderly people can determine if the hypotheses put forward here apply to elderly persons generally. It would also be interesting to know if these factors are similarly important in influencing survival at other stages of the life cycle. Infant mortality in this country certainly seems to be related to some of the factors examined in this study.