| Abstract: | Although there is growing evidence that psychological factors affect an individual's susceptibility to respiratory illnesses, psychological predictors of respiratory mortality have received little attention. This study investigated whether an age-specific psychological factor, older individuals’ beliefs about their own aging, predicted the likelihood of their dying from respiratory causes (ICD-9: 460–519). The sample was composed of 620 individuals, aged 50–87 years at baseline, who participated in a longitudinal study with six waves. Our research found that individuals with higher baseline positive self-perceptions of aging were significantly less likely to die of respiratory causes over the next 23 years, after controlling for age, functional health, gender, loneliness, marital status, self-rated health, and socioeconomic status (hazard ratio?=?0.695; p?
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