Hey, old ladies -- come stand next to me

Want to look younger this weekend? You might try forming a new posse of old people: Being surrounded by seniors makes you look younger in comparison, world's most obvious study says.

MyHealthNewsDaily reports that looking at a series of photos of older people -- and then looking at a photo of a 30-something face -- makes us think that 30-year-old is much younger than he or she is, according to German researchers, who published their findings in the Nov. 23 of the journal Vision Research.

The researchers asked 24 young adults to look at pictures of 15 female and 15 male faces. Each image was doctored to show what the person would look like in his or her 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.

The volunteer were systematically wrong at estimating other people's ages after they had looked intensely at faces of people of a specific age group.

For example, if many faces of elderly people were shown on the computer first, followed by the face of a middle-age person, the volunteers made out the middle-age person to be substantially younger than he or she was. But after first studying younger faces, the volunteers estimated the middle-age person as being substantially older.

But stay away from crowds of young'uns, because the opposite is true, too -- after looking at photos of younger people, the study participants judged the face of the 30-something person to be older. Turns out, we're pretty good at determining the age of the person next to us, but it all falls apart when we see a bunch of similar-aged faces in succession.

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Discuss this post

This doesn't sound so far fetched. We all know that when you go out partying you surround yourself with people less attractive than you. We all want to be the youngest and prettiest!

    Reply#1 - Thu Jan 13, 2011 11:28 AM EST
    Reply

    I'm glad to be doing my part to make all around me look young, thin and gorgeous!

    • 3 votes
    Reply#2 - Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:01 PM EST

    Ha! Ha! Ha! Very funny. This is the weirdest study yet.

      #2.1 - Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:44 AM EST
      Reply

      did we pay lots of money for this study? good grief!

        Reply#3 - Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:18 PM EST

        haha u gotta admit those people who u pitied in 6th grade...u hung out with them still cas they made u look AWESOME!!!!!!!!! hahahah i totally remember those girls!!!!!!!

          Reply#4 - Wed Jan 19, 2011 7:19 PM EST

           OMG. I'm a 58 year old woman working at a fast food restaurant that caters to High School kids. I'm sooooo surrounded by kids I must look 100.

            Reply#5 - Thu Jan 20, 2011 9:14 PM EST

            Dahyum! This means I gotta go to a retirement community ta not look ANCIENT.

              Reply#6 - Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:34 PM EST

              Yes, Darthdon, I suggest south Florida, where you are YOUNG if you are in your fifties; and it's a great place for women who like older men to hook up. (and the reverse is true too, of course - and there are more women than men.) 70 yr olds are riding bikes, wearing surf gear and bikinis, and having cocktails and brunch at the outside cafes. I also suggest going to a retirement home (not nursing home) like Iris Place to feel young if you think you are getting old. It's a great reminder.

                Reply#7 - Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:02 PM EST

                 I am forty six...5'0'' and 97 lbs...34-24=35..I still look fine and hawt...hahaha

                  Reply#8 - Fri Jan 21, 2011 12:55 PM EST

                  So you hang around me 'cause I make you look younger and I get to hang with a hottie? Sounds good to me!

                    Reply#9 - Fri Jan 21, 2011 8:09 PM EST
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