Are 'age-inaccurate' photos of deceased indicative of increasing ageism in U.S.?
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Dying young, it seems, is no longer a phenomenon reserved for the youth.
According to a study of obituary photographs in The Plain Dealer, a Cleveland daily newspaper, photos showing the dead at a much younger age than when they died increased dramatically between 1967 and 1997, suggesting that Americans may have become more biased against older appearances.
The study, co-authored by Keith Anderson, assistant professor of social work at Ohio State University, and published in the Omega -- Journal of Death and Dying, also found that deceased women had a higher likelihood than men to have an obituary photo from a much younger age.
"Oftentimes, you'll be going through the obituaries and you notice the photographs are them at a young age, and you're like, 'Wow, that person died young,' " said Dr. Anderson.
These "age-inaccurate" photographs -- a term meaning the photos showed the dead at least 15 years younger than when they died -- could be reflective of increasing ageism in America, Dr. Anderson said.
The study shows that in 1997, approximately 36 percent of the obituary photos surveyed were age-inaccurate, more than double the amount that were age-inaccurate in 1967. Dr. Anderson and his co-author, Jina Han, an Ohio State graduate student in social work, didn't study obituary photographs after 1997 because The Plain Dealer altered the layout of its obituary section that year, making reliable comparisons impossible.
Dr. Anderson estimated the ages of the people in the obituary photographs and compared his estimates with those of his co-author to increase accuracy. He then compared their age estimates of the photographs to the actual age of the deceased at their death. A total of 400 photos were surveyed.
The researchers found that the number of age-inaccurate photos increased gradually over the years. Furthermore, the study showed that the older the age of death, the greater the likelihood of having an age-inaccurate photo.
"[O]bituaries and their accompanying photographs provide key indicators of such societal forces as ageism, sexism, racism and classism," Dr. Anderson and Mr. Han wrote in the report of their study. "These findings point toward the possible existence of ageism and sexism in the selection and publication of obituary photographs and ... the cultural preference of youthfulness ..."
When it comes to the obituaries of local citizens, Dr. Anderson said, photos are typically chosen by family members of the deceased with the help of funeral directors.
Patrick Upole, funeral director of Paul Henney Memorial Chapel Inc. in Bethel Park, said the decision of a relative to go with a particular photo is based mostly on appearance, rather than age.
"A few people choose younger photos," Mr. Upole said. "But it's because their loved one looked the best [in younger photos]."
Obituary photos are chosen to represent the deceased at their peak, at a time when they were most recognizable to others, said Alana Baranick, former obituary writer for The Plain Dealer, "so naturally, they would be younger."
"When you show someone at the peak of their career when most people would have known them, it's a practical thing, it's not ageism," she said.
Richard Schulz, professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and associate director of Pitt's Institute on Aging, agrees.
"The goal of an obituary is to remind others of the good things a person has accomplished," he said. "You want to show them at their best, including pictures of them at younger ages. I would not interpret this as ageism. It's done in part out of respect for the deceased."
Maybe so, Dr. Anderson said, but it's what Americans understand to be the "best" that seems to be the problem.
"What do we perceive as attractive or beautiful or strong? There's a little ageism there when we think in those terms," he said.
Dr. Schulz cited several examples of what he believed to be the study's shortcomings and said the findings don't make a strong argument for increased ageism in America.
"The age estimates are very subjective," he said. "The gender effect is likely due to the fact that women are better at disguising their ages ... Authors are probably not as good at estimating the ages of women as they are of men."
Dr. Schulz added that chronic illnesses could also be a factor in the decision to publish photographs showing the deceased at a younger age, saying that people "are not interested in documenting their relatives while ill."
Dr. Anderson and Mr. Han acknowledged these factors in their report, writing that it "limits our ability to generalize their findings to the overall population in the United States."
But the authors concluded that the study "reveals an interesting reflection of societal values in terms of ageism ... In our society, we value youthful beauty and devalue the beauty of aging."
First Published May 25, 2009 12:00 am
