We Feel Best About Our Looks at Age 65—or Older

At almost every age, more men report being satisfied with their looks than women
By Elizabeth Armstrong Moore,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 11, 2014 8:20 AM CDT
We Feel Best About Our Looks at Age 65—or Older
FILE- In this Oct. 9, 2013 file photo, an elderly couple sits on a bench in central Sydney. By the year 2050, there will be more old people on earth than children for the first time in history, because of rising life spans and falling birth rates, according to demographics studies.   (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)

America's youth are less satisfied with their physical appearance than their grandparents are, according to a new Gallup poll of more than 80,000 Americans ages 18 and up. And though men report higher satisfaction than women at almost every age, both men and women experience a low point in middle age, Gallup reports. It turns out that 66% of American seniors 65 and up either "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that they always feel good about their looks, compared to 54% of 35- to 64-year-olds and 61% of 18- to 34-year-olds.

Meanwhile, African Americans enjoy the highest satisfaction rate across all ages at 68%, Hispanics a close second at 67%, Asians trailing a bit at 62%, and whites rounding out the bottom at 55%. "For whites, who are the least likely to feel confident in their physical appearance across all age groups, societal pressure to conform to conventional standards of physical attractiveness takes an even bigger toll," Gallup reps write. Because the survey did not measure actual attractiveness, in part because it would be difficult to measure something so subjective, it was not able to establish any relationship between self confidence and how others would rate a person's attractiveness. (In another recent Gallup poll, 35 countries feel more free than the US.)

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