Subjective life expectancy in the US: correspondence to actuarial estimates by age, sex and race.
This study maps the relationship between subjective and actuarial life expectancy in a 1995 national sample of 2037 Americans of ages 18-95. Subjective estimates parallel age-specific actuarial ones based on current age-specific mortality rates. However males expect to live about 3 years longer than the actuarial estimate and blacks expect to live about 6 years longer. The apparent optimism remains after adjusting for socioeconomic status and the signs and symptoms of good health. Contrary to economists' rational-expectations hypothesis, young adults do not adjust their life expectancies upward to account for the favorable trends in mortality rates.
Mirowsky
J
J
Department of Sociology, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210-1353, USA. mirowsky.1@osu.edu
D000206:Actuarial Analysis; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008136:Longevity; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044469:Racial Groups; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States