from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
How long do you want to live? A survey
of more than sixteen hundred adults
between eighteen and sixty-four has
some interesting answers. Researchers
at Columbia University’s Mailman School
of Public Health say one-third would like
to reach into eighties, which is about the
average life expectancy. One quarter of
those surveyed would like to live into
their nineties and beyond. But about
one in six said they preferred to die
before reaching average life expectancy.
Researchers say those with fewer
negative feelings about old age
preferred to live longer. First author
Catherine Bowen says people who
embrace a better-to-die-young attitude
may be selling themselves short—really-
-underestimating their ability to cope
with age-related life experiences.