Study: What we can learn from centenarians about a strong psyche

What would it be like to live to 100? Many people dream of living to ten decades, but only a few reach the magical age of 100. How will we feel when we actually live to 100? Are we more relaxed, more stressed, less motivated?

A long-term study in Switzerland, the so-called "Swiss 100" study , addressed precisely this question. Between 2020 and 2024, 445 centenarians or their families were surveyed, initially by telephone and later also in face-to-face meetings with the researchers. Incidentally, there was only one man for every three women in the study, and the respondents were an impressive average age of 102. And two out of three centenarians lived in a nursing home.

Study: How well are 100-year-olds doing?

But what about the mental and physical health of the respondents? First of all, as expected: According to the study results, more than half of respondents often or very often felt their health was impaired. However, only eight percent of participants actually considered themselves to be in poor health.

One in four people saw little meaning in their lives, but four out of five respondents were fairly or very satisfied with their lives. This may sound paradoxical at first, but the physical limitations many people face at this advanced age may provide some understanding of the fact that meaning is less clear in the eleventh decade of life—even if one is still satisfied.

Centenarians are apparently more resilient than younger people

Depression, however, is not a major issue at that age. "This is confirmed by various centenarian studies," explains Prof. Dr. Daniela Jopp, psychology professor and aging researcher responsible for the research, to GEO. The US Fordham study in New York, for example, showed that centenarians rarely suffer from depression. In a Heidelberg study , more than 80 percent of centenarians were satisfied with their lives.

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The resilience of people over 100 is very high, so they can generally cope well with mental stress. According to Daniela Jopp, this is due to their approach: "Older people tend to rely on cognitive strategies that allow them to re-evaluate a problem," she explains. "They focus less on their potentially poor health, but rather on the fact that they are alive – and appreciate this."

Centenarians also appear to be more optimistic than those aged between 80 and 95. This could also be due to the fact that people achieve a certain calm and relaxation once they have reached the age of 100.

The right attitude: What we can learn from centenarians

But what actually causes people to live so long? According to Jopp, this is partly due to genes and a healthy lifestyle, but also to the attitude of older people. According to Jopp, people who live to a very old age tend to be positive, extroverted, and disciplined. "They don't fret about what they've lost, but rather rejoice in what they've kept."

Of course, we can't influence our genes, and our mental health per se is only partially influenced. Whether we have a predisposition to anxiety disorders or depression, for example, is not in our control; only how we deal with them is.

But this seems to be the crux of the matter: Most centenarians surveyed in the Swiss study clearly value a positive attitude. They are consciously grateful for what they still have, rather than ruminating about what is no longer there. And this is precisely what we can—and should—internalize even at a younger age.

mbl Brigitte

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