Definition
Increasing longevity consists in the process by which the individuals’ length of life has expanded throughout history.
Introduction
According to Blagosklonny (2010), the progress of civilization has enabled a drastic reduction of the death rate of young people – who died mainly due to epidemics, famine, and physical violence – and hence the increase of lifespan. A century ago, for example, the odds of reaching the 100-year age group were 100 times lower (Blagosklonny 2010). In this context, currently, studies show that there are several factors that can influence longevity, among them highlighted the issues related to heredity, gender, socioeconomic status, nutrition, social support, medical care, personality, and behavioral characteristics (Robine et al. 1997).
Historical Factors
Kaplan et al. (2000) highlight four characteristics, which distinguish human life histories from other primates...
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References
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Batista, G., Diógenes, G.J. (2018). Increasing Longevity. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2786-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2786-1
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