Scientists Reveal at what age are we happiest?
By RUHR-UNIVERSITY BOCHUM
A comprehensive review by several universities found that life satisfaction drops from ages 9 to 16, rises slightly until 70, then drops again until 96. Positive emotions generally decrease from age 9 to 94, while negative emotions fluctuate early on, decline until 60, and then increase.
An
analysis of more than 400 samples sheds light on the progression of subjective
well-being throughout a person’s life.
When
do people reach their peak happiness? This seemingly simple question has been
studied extensively over the past decades, but a definitive answer has long
been elusive.
A research team from the German Sport University Cologne, Ruhr University Bochum, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and the universities of Bern and Basel in Switzerland has now shed light on the question in a comprehensive meta-analytic review recently published in the journal Psychological Bulletin.
The findings show that the respondents’ life
satisfaction decreased between the ages of 9 and 16, then increased slightly
until the age of 70, and then decreased once again until the age of 96.
More
than 460,000 participants
In their study, the researchers examined trends in subjective well-being over the lifespan based on 443 samples from longitudinal studies with a total of 460,902 participants.
“We focused on changes in three central components of subjective
well-being,” explains Professor Susanne Bücker, who initially worked on the
study in Bochum and has since moved to Cologne: “Life satisfaction, positive
emotional states, and negative emotional states.”
The
findings show that life satisfaction decreased between the ages of 9 and 16,
then increased slightly until the age of 70, and then decreased once again
until the age of 96. Positive emotional states showed a general decline from
age 9 to age 94, while negative emotional states fluctuated slightly between
ages 9 and 22, then declined until age 60, and then increased once again. The
authors identified greater median changes in positive and negative emotional
states than in life satisfaction.
Positive
trend over a wide period of life
“Overall,
the study indicated a positive trend over a wide period of life, if we look at
life satisfaction and negative emotional states,” as Susanne Bücker sums up the
results.
The
researchers attribute the slight decline in life satisfaction between the ages
of 9 and 16 to, for example, changes to the body and to the social life that
takes place during puberty. Satisfaction rises again from young adulthood
onwards. Positive feelings tend to decrease from childhood to late adulthood.
In very late adulthood, all components of subjective well-being tended to
worsen rather than improve.
“This
could be related to the fact that in very old people, physical performance
decreases, health often deteriorates, and social contacts diminish; not least
because their peers pass away,” speculates the researcher.
The
study highlights the need to consider and promote subjective well-being with
its various components across the lifespan, as the authors of the study
conclude. Their findings could provide significant guidance for the development
of intervention programs, especially those aimed at maintaining or improving
subjective well-being late in life.
Reference:
“The development of subjective well-being across the life span: A meta-analytic
review of longitudinal studies” by Susanne Buecker, Maike Luhmann, Peter
Haehner, Larissa Bühler, Laura C. Dapp, Eva C. Luciano and Ulrich Orth,
2023, Psychological Bulletin.
DOI: 10.1037/bul0000401