In a reversal of trends, American baby boomers scored lower on a test of cognitive functioning than did members of previous generations, according to a new nationwide study. Findings showed that average cognition scores of adults aged 50 and older increased from generation to generation, beginning with the greatest generation (born 1890-1923) and peaking among war babies (born 1942-1947). Scores began to decline in the early baby boomers (born 1948-1953) and decreased further in the mid baby boomers (born 1954-1959). According to study author Hui Zheng, professor of sociology at The Ohio State University: “It is shocking to see this decline in cognitive functioning among baby boomers after generations of increases in test scores,” Zheng said. “But what was most surprising to me is that this decline is seen in all groups: men and women, across all races and ethnicities and across all education, income and wealth levels.”
Results showed lower cognitive functioning in baby boomers was linked to less wealth, along with higher levels of loneliness, depression, inactivity and obesity, and less likelihood of being married. The study was published online recently in the Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences. Zheng analyzed data on 30,191 Americans who participated in the Health and Retirement Survey, conducted by the University of Michigan. People over 51 years old were surveyed every two years. As part of the study, participants completed a cognitive test in which they had to recall words they had heard earlier, name objects they were shown and perform other tasks. Other research has shown that overall rates of mortality and illness have increased in baby boomers, but generally found that the highly educated and wealthiest were mostly spared. “That’s why it was so surprising to me to see cognitive declines in all groups in this study,” Zheng said. “Baby boomers already start having lower cognition scores than earlier generations at age 50 to 54,” he said. Zheng looked for clues across the lifetimes of those in the study. Increasing cognition scores in previous generations could be tied to beneficial childhood conditions – conditions that were similar for baby boomers, Zheng said.
Baby boomers’ childhood health was as good as or better than previous generations and they came from families that had higher socioeconomic status. They also had higher levels of education and better occupations. “The decline in cognitive functioning that we’re seeing does not come from poorer childhood conditions,” Zheng said. The biggest factors linked to lower cognition scores among baby boomers in the study were lower wealth, higher levels of self-reported loneliness and depression, lack of physical activity and obesity. Living without a spouse, being married more than once in their lives, having psychiatric problems and cardiovascular risk factors including strokes, hypertension, heart disease and diabetes were also associated with lower cognitive functioning among people in this generation. “If it weren’t for their better childhood health, more favorable family background, more years of education and higher likelihood of having a white-collar occupation, baby boomers would have even worse cognitive functioning,” Zheng said.
There were not enough late baby boomers (born in 1960 or later) to include in this study, but Zheng said he believes they will fare no better. The same might be true for following generations unless we find a solution for the problems found here, he said. While many of the problems linked to lower cognitive functioning are symptoms of modern life, like less connection with friends and family and growing economic inequality, other problems found in this study are unique to the United States, Zheng said. One example would be the lack of universal access and high cost of health care. “Part of the story here are the problems of modern life in the U.S.,” he said. One of the biggest concerns is that cognitive functioning when people are in their 50s and 60s is related to their likelihood of having dementia when they are older. “With the aging population in the United States, we were already likely to see an increase in the number of people with dementia,” Zheng said. “But this study suggests it may be worse than we expected for decades to come.” Source: new.osu.edu
New research suggests that sexual promiscuity negatively impacts social responses toward both gay and straight men. The study, published in the journal Psychology of Men & Masculinities, found that women are more likely to seek to avoid gay men described as promiscuous compared to gay men who are not described as promiscuous. “Perceptions of masculinity, and stereotypes toward gay men, are multifaceted,” said study author Corey Cook, an assistant professor of psychology at Pacific Lutheran University. “I was interested in knowing what happens when some of these perceptions overlap; for example, does perceived sexual promiscuity (which is associated with traditional ideas of masculinity) affect perceptions of gay and straight men similarly? These kinds of comparisons can help us understand where these prejudices come from, and hopefully help us find ways to reduce them.” In the study, heterosexual undergraduate students were randomly assigned to report their social attitudes towards either gay men, straight men, gay men who are sexually promiscuous, straight men who are sexually promiscuous, gay men with feminine qualities, straight men with feminine qualities, gay men with masculine qualities, or straight men with very masculine qualities.
To assess their attitudes, the participants were asked how strongly they agreed with statements such as “I would like for a member of this group to work in the same place as I do” and “Members of this group are the kind of people that I tend to avoid.” The researchers found that both female and male participants reported greater social distancing toward gay men than toward straight men. Women also reported greater social distancing toward sexually promiscuous gay men than gay men in general. Men, however, showed no difference in attitude between sexually promiscuous gay men and gay men in general. In addition, Cook and his colleagues found that women reported greater social distancing toward sexually promiscuous straight men compared to all other groups. “One important implication of this research is that attitudes based on sexual behavior can be more nuanced than we often think. Research consistently finds that heterosexual women are generally more accepting of gay men than heterosexual men are. My findings suggest that this is not the case when gay men are explicitly labeled as sexually promiscuous,” Cook told PsyPost.
“Additionally, heterosexual women and men respond negatively toward straight men labeled as sexually promiscuous. This is interesting because heterosexual men have traditionally used ‘sexual prowess’ as a way to boost their status; my research suggests that this tactic might not work as well as men think.” In a second experiment, the researchers found evidence that women’s negativity toward sexually promiscuous gay men was related to concern for disease threats. But perceived disease threat only explained some of the relationship. “One major caveat to these findings is that our data do not fully explain why women responded so negatively toward targets labeled as sexually promiscuous. What is it about sexual promiscuity that elicited such negative reactions from women in our studies?” Cook said. “Also, what perpetuates this “masculine” norm among men if both men and women respond negatively to sexual promiscuity? I hope my findings are interesting enough to motivate other researchers to explore these questions in ways I haven’t yet thought of. I think the timing of this research is fortuitous. We are at a point culturally when people are beginning to ask very important questions about traditional ideas of gender, sex, and sexuality. Maybe findings such as these can help us think of ways to redefine masculinity and help us find healthier ways of perceiving sexuality,” Cook added. Source: www.psypost.org
Sasha Chermayeff: John had begun his efforts with George magazine. His next goal was to be a New York senator, or possibly governor. And then he would have run for President. One morning on the Vineyard we joked about the election of 2012—he wanted to run in 2012. John thought philosopher Russell Blackford got it right: ‘We need to focus on evidence and arguments, and on ordinary fairness and compassion to others, even when we disagree.’ I don’t think Carolyn controlled John but she probably tried to change his views if she thought it would be in his benefit. I think John could also be controlling. That’s how I see it. He didn’t like her mother or most of her friends, and when they weren’t together one of his friends was reporting him what was she doing. I never heard John saying anything negative about Ann Freeman (Carolyn's mother) directly, he just complained he didn't like how she was whispering to her daughter's ear about how she should live her life. And yes, John didn't get along with Carolyn's friends at all, because I know he didn't click with that type (Fashion & mostly gay crowd), he called those types 'clusterfucks'. Brad Johns (Carolyn's hairdresser from her early fashion days) said John was controlling and he was the reason Carolyn stopped getting her hair done there. John sent a cease and desist letter to Brad Johns because he 'was talking to the press' when all he did was promote his salon using his clientele. Once John threatened Michael Bergin when this guy phoned Carolyn home. I think John also didn't like Gordon Henderson (Carolyn's designer friend) or other people who he felt could have a bad influence on Carolyn. ―"American Son: A Portrait of John F. Kennedy Jr." (2002) by Richard Blow & Richard Bradley
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