Study: In life, age affects happiness

Study: In life, age affects happiness


At what age are people happiest? It seems a simple question, but it’s been studied for decades with no pat answers.

In a new study, German and Swiss researchers say they’ve come up with some insight. The team’s meta-analysis of existing research involved data from more than 460,000 people ages 9 to 94 from studies based on three components of happiness ¾ or “subjective well-being,” as scientists call it.

The components were life satisfaction, positive affect and negative affect.

Positive affect measures emotions such as feeling engaged, attentive and joyful. Negative affect gauges emotions like being frightened, angry or sad.

The researchers say life satisfaction decreases from age 9 to 16, increases slightly until we reach 70, then decreases again until age 94. Charted, the drop from age 9 to 16 is steep, then the line tracks ever-so-slightly higher until age 70, before it slowly drops.

Positive and negative affects offered sharper trend lines than life satisfaction.

Positive emotional states showed a general decline from age 9 to 94.

Negative states fluctuate slightly between ages 9 and 22, they decline until age 60 and then rise again. On a chart, it looks like a subdued letter “U.”

The bottom line: Puberty and old age are not for the weak. In puberty, your body changes, you feel awkward, your heart breaks. When you’re older, friends and spouses die. We sometimes become lonely. Our health often gets worse with age and that can mean having to contend with physical pain.

Researchers say documenting the trends is a way to ensure help gets to those who need it most, at the time of life they most need it.

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