What is psychological age and how to determine it

Each of us has repeatedly noticed that people who have the same passport age sometimes do not at all look like their peers.

One at the age of 40-45 already looks almost old, and the other at 60 is young, energetic and full of life.

Scientists gerontologists, in addition to calendar age, usually take into account the biological age of a person, which shows the degree of aging of the body and its individual organs and systems. And very often the indicators of these criteria do not coincide. A person can be healthy and full of energy at 70 years old, and sometimes even at 20 he is overcome by illness and early aging occurs. As a result of long-term observations, scientists have concluded that women age more slowly than men and live 6-8 years longer, and this may be explained by the fact that men age a little faster. Biological age also depends on the place of residence and climatic conditions. The peoples of the south (Abkhazians, Georgians, Karakalpaks) have less calendar calendar. The closer to the north, the closer the biological age is to the calendar age, and sometimes even significantly exceeds it (especially among the Nenets, Chukchi, Eskimos, and Buryats). The state of our health depends not on the number of years we have lived, but on the degree of preservation of the body. It is this factor that determines a person’s biological age. There is no absolute system for measuring biological age. But there are many methods for determining biological age, but many of them require special equipment. However, you can take a number of tests at home that show how worn out our body is - they provide an assessment of the condition of the body and its real biological age.

The results of such a study make it possible to understand which age group a particular person’s body corresponds to.

Spinal flexibility

This test allows you to determine the condition of the ligaments and tendons of the spine.

While standing, lean forward, you can bend your knees. Where did you reach with your palms?

• Place your palms on the floor - your ligaments are 20 years old;
• Touched the floor only with your fingers, not with your palms - 30 years;
• Reached palms to ankles - 40 years;
• Put your palms below your knees - 50 years;
• Touched knees - 60 years;
• Didn't reach the knees - 70 and older.

Another way is to count the number of forward bends you can do in a minute.

• More than 50 movements correspond to the age of 20 years;
• A 30-year-old bends over 35 to 49 times per minute,
• from 30 to 34 times – 40 year old,
• from 25 to 29 – a 50-year-old person.
• Ages over 60 years old correspond to no more than 24 bends per minute.

The spine protects the spinal cord from damage. The spinal column, as a single anatomical and physiological structure, is supported by ligaments and muscles. The spinal cord contains many centers of the autonomic nervous system from which spinal nerves depart, through the channels of which complex reflex functions are carried out. Deterioration in the flexibility and mobility of the spine can lead to disruption of the efficiency of neuro-regulatory processes and deterioration in the functioning of some organs and systems of the human body.

Speed ​​reaction

To carry out the test, you will have to resort to the services of an assistant. Ask a friend or relative to take a 50 cm long ruler and hold it vertically at the end corresponding to the zero mark.

You should place your hand 10 cm below the other end of the ruler.

The assistant should suddenly let go of the ruler, and you should catch it as it falls, holding it between your thumb and forefinger.

The reaction speed is measured by the divisions on which your fingers are located. In this case, the age correspondence table looks like this:

• 20 cm – 20 years;
• 25 cm – 30 years;
• 35 cm – 40 years;
• 45 cm – 60 years.

This test allows you to determine the time of a simple motor reaction and the duration of nervous stimulation. The time indicator of this reflex serves as an important indicator of the functional state of human nerve centers.

Everything is in the hands of man

Psychological age, of course, depends on the external environment and objective circumstances. However, here the person himself is capable of doing a lot. If he wishes, he may well try, as they say, “to become younger at heart.”

To begin work in this direction, it is necessary first of all to determine this very psychological age. There are special tests for this. After passing them, a person may, for example, find out that he is much older than his years. And he may not like it very much.

In this case, you need to move on to the next, most difficult stage - start changing your lifestyle. That is, become more active, teach yourself to look for new interests every day and expand your social circle. Moreover, for internal rejuvenation, experts recommend communicating with young people. They will feed you with their irrepressible energy and pull you into the orbit of their hobbies and priorities.

And people who want to look younger inside must take very good care of themselves and take care of their appearance. As practice shows, this has a very positive effect on the general condition. That is, the better a person looks, the better he feels.

And, of course, for those who want to reduce their psychological age, it is very important to cultivate optimism, make far-reaching plans and constantly develop their minds. With all this, it is also advisable to lead a healthy lifestyle and give up bad habits. They certainly don't make anyone look younger.

Condition of the vestibular apparatus

You will need help from someone at home. Take off your shoes, close your eyes, stand on one leg, rest your other foot on the shin of your supporting leg.

The assistant marks on the clock how long you can stand like this.

• 30 seconds or more – you are 20 years old;
• 25 seconds – 30 years;
• 20 seconds – 40 years;
• 15 seconds – 50 years;
• 10 seconds or less – 60 years.
• You can’t stand at all – 70 and older.

Next, try standing like this. You should close your eyes and try to stand on one leg (the other leg is raised 10 cm from the floor).

How do they consider the difference between physical and mental development in psychology?

Studying what the concept of “psychological age” includes, psychologists emphasize that for normal personality development, a harmonious correspondence of the chronological state with the internal one is necessary. Inconsistency causes difficulties in adaptation:

1. Inner immaturity. Guarantees a high level of vital energy, focus on the future, friendliness and openness.
2. Correspondence. A harmonious combination that allows you to enjoy life, but not commit rash acts.
3. Advancement of development. This happens when a person goes through many events and experiences in life.

The situation with severe developmental desynchronization can be corrected. To get a closer match, you should:

• undergo counseling with a psychotherapist;
• strive for self-development;
• avoid external pressure.

At any age, the main thing is to remain optimistic. At each stage of psychological development, you can fully enjoy life.

Condition of the skin and peripheral vessels

Grab an area of ​​skin on the back of your hand with your thumb and forefinger, squeeze for 5 seconds and release. A white spot will appear on the skin.

Note the time it takes for it to disappear.

• Up to 5 seconds – your skin is 20 years old;
• 6–8 seconds – 30 years;
• 9–12 seconds – 40 years;
• 13–15 seconds – 50 years;
• 16–19 seconds – 60 years.
• More than 19 seconds – 70 and older.

How do you understand that your soul is “aging”?

An “old” and a “wise” soul are not the same thing.

Inner age test: find out how old you feel?

Old age of the soul is a disease that ordinary doctors cannot accurately diagnose. How can you understand that your soul is “older”?

Please note: an “old” soul in this context does not mean wisdom, but a lack of spiritual development.

From the video you will learn what an old and a young soul are:

Condition of the central nervous system

This test requires little preparation. Ask your assistant to draw a sign on a piece of paper consisting of five lines, with five cells in each, and write numbers from 1 to 25 in the cells, arranging them randomly.

Then take a pencil and try to quickly, without distraction, touch the cells sequentially in ascending order of numbers (from the first to the twenty-fifth).

• If your age is 20 years old, this should take no more than 35 seconds.
• A thirty-year-old person will show a result of 36 to 40 seconds,
• A 40-year-old will do it in 41-50 seconds,
• A 50 year old will spend about 60 seconds.

You can also use a simple flash toy: TEST: Biological age of your brain.

By the way, you can easily train your memory with such simple toys: Memory Matrix: Flash game for memory training

S. Stepanov: biography, scientific achievements

The author of the most popular test for determining internal age is Sergei Stepanov, associate professor at the Moscow PPU. In Russian scientific circles, he is known for his extensive research into the psychological state: factors influencing the speed of personality development, internal motives, and behavioral characteristics.

Stepanov received his education at the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University, and immediately after graduation he went to work. Simultaneously with his work at the institute, he began writing books on psychology. From 1984 to 1997 he worked as a scientific editor at the Great Russian Encyclopedia publishing house. In addition to his main research work, he published more than 100 articles. He also translated works of famous psychologists who studied psychological development.

Stepanov created the age test based on research results. It was included in his book “Psychological Tests,” which was published in 2002. Stepanov’s complete bibliography includes more than 30 books.

Libido

The male body is characterized by a direct dependence of the frequency of sexual contacts on biological age:

• at 20 years old this figure is 6-7 times a week,
• at 30 years old - 5-6 times,
• for 40-year-olds – 3-4 times,
• a man aged 50 years or more is able to experience and successfully realize sexual desire no more than 2 times a week.

To find out the final result, you need to find the arithmetic mean of the measured parameters: add up all your results and divide by 10. This figure will be your biological age.

A person's calendar and biological age may not coincide. It happens that biological age is less than calendar age, and this indicates slow aging and a longer life expectancy can be predicted. If these ages are equal, then a normal physiological process occurs in the human body. If biological age is greater than calendar age, then this may be a sign of premature aging, which is caused by chronic diseases. There are other factors that accelerate the aging process - these are psycho-emotional stress, neurosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, vitamin deficiency.

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There are other tests to determine whether your calendar age matches your biological age. These tables indicate some of them.

Or here:

This is interesting

Taking a closer look at those who look younger, you can note that they, for the most part, are incorrigible optimists, lead a healthy lifestyle, spend a lot of time in nature, and are pleasant to communicate with. They prefer natural methods of treatment in case of illness, but this rarely happens to them... the list goes on.

For example, the famous Paul Bragg, at the age of 80, looked 60, surfed, fasted, ran and led a very active lifestyle. Or Tibetan monks - they know the secrets of longevity and look much younger than their earthly years.

In the photo below is 67-year-old Gao Mingyuan. He began his studies at the age of 60, when he retired.

After many years of working at the factory, by the age of 60, everything hurt, especially his legs and back. He did stretching exercises for 7-8 hours a day. Now he is 67 years old, and he has forgotten about his illnesses and does not go to doctors at all. Answering the question about what makes him happy, without hesitation, he names several things: order, many friends, good mood and love for people. Based on materials from sovetchiki.org, natyropat.ru

See also:

TEST: Skin reveals our biological age

How old are you really?

Psychological age test

Psychological age can differ significantly from the number of years actually lived. In this case, a person is said to be wise/foolish beyond his years or to be superior/lackward in development to his peers. To find out your psychological age and level of development at the moment, take this online test and get useful information for further personal development.