With the winter solstice in December came some much-needed good news from The Economist magazine. It’s called “the U-bend of life”.Essentially, this article reports on findings of social scientists indicating that beyond middle age, people get happier as they (we) get older. As a third ager in the second half of my sixties, that one got my attention.
Of course all the usual caveats apply about taking care about generalizing summary findings but the researchers found some thought-provoking trends across several cultures.
This study reflects the interest of social scientists in understanding what makes us happy and is part of growing research interest in many countries on gauging the “well-being” of their citizens. Surveyors asked two kinds of questions such as: (1) "Thinking about your life as a whole, how do you feel?" And (2) "Yesterday, did you feel happy/contented/angry/anxious?"
A prominent theme they found across the responses was a “U bend” in which their measures of happiness generally declined until mid-age (46 years) and then increased thereafter regardless of income level. Also, neurotic people—those who are prone to guilt, anger and anxiety—tend to be unhappy and extroversion does the opposite.
For me, this seems to support the idea of the third age movement, that depending on how we look at it, the post-retirement years, a “30 year life bonus” offers opportunities for happiness and fulfillment.
What do you think?
