Symbolic significance of initials on longevity

Percept Mot Skills. 2007 Feb;104(1):179-82. doi: 10.2466/pms.104.1.179-182.

Abstract

The longevities of deceased major league baseball players who died prior to 1950 (N=3835) and whose initials formed acronyms, words, or names with "positive" or "negative" affect, as rated a priori by two judges, were compared with those for a group of neutral controls matched for birth year and career length, using the Berkeley standardized mortality tables. Players (n=11) with positive initials, e.g., A.C.E., lived a mean of 13 years longer than players (n=30) with negative initials, e.g., D.E.D., or players with neutral initials (n=864). These results corroborated a previous study and suggest positive name symbols are associated with increased longevity in this sample.

MeSH terms

  • Achievement
  • Affect*
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Baseball / psychology
  • Humans
  • Longevity*
  • Male
  • Names*
  • Self Concept
  • Semantics
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Symbolism*
  • Unconscious, Psychology