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Men are slightly more optimistic, and Black respondents quite a bit more optimistic.
He compared respondents' answers to life expectancy figures published by the U.S. Bureau of the Census in 1995. The survey results showed that Black and white women, and Black males, expect to live to about 82 years on average and white males expect to live about a year less than that, to 81. However, census bureau statistics suggest that white women in this sample should expect to live to about age 83, Black women and white men should expect to live about five years less, to age 78, and Black males should expect to live about 6.5 years less than that, to age 71.5. Another interesting finding was that younger people did not adjust their life expectancies upward to account for the fact that mortality rates continue to drop. Dropping mortality rates mean young people today should really expect to live longer than their parents and grandparents, Mirowsky said, but this was not reflected in their life expectancy estimates.