Age and Happiness Go Together Nicely

Old and wise, but sick and frustrated. That is the common stereotype when it comes to older people. Yet the current generation of 60 and older people are neither frail nor unhappy. Researchers discovered, that middle age is the most unhappy phase in one’s life – during the retirement phase things are looking up again.

01/04/2010

“During the course of one’s life, the sense of happiness is doing a U-turn“, according to Hilke Brockmann. The sociologist discovered that people between the ages of 30 and 60 are the most unhappy. The reason: During the prime of our lives we are tied to many responsibilities. On the one hand there is the job, which is demanding. On the other hand, you have to take care of your partnership and the children, and might even have to take care of your own parents. “Those commitments can restrict you and do not leave much room for personal development“, says Brockmann, who is doing research with the “Happiness Research Group“ at the Jacobs University in Bremen.

Elderly people have already found
the key to happiness; © Johanna
Kaltenegger/Pixelio.de

Her findings apparently deal with an actual pattern of emotions during the course of life. The fact that starting at 30 the sense of happiness is on a downward slope is confirmed by a study on contentment during old age by the Institute for Public Opinion Polls Allensbach. According to the survey, during their mid-forties half of the people polled have reached their absolute low point. This unhappiness lasts until about the end of your fifties. Not until people are over 60 can a clear increase in happiness be noticed. During retirement age, things don’t slide down as commonly presumed. The 50 plus active adults (in Germany the so-called “Best Agers“) live up to their name and are happier than some people in their younger years.

The simple things count

Despite happiness being a very subjective and individual element, one thing obviously makes all senior citizens happy: Health. The Allensbach poll showed, that 95 percent of people over 50 experience happiness when they are healthy.

The reverse conclusion also applies: Diseases cause unhappiness. “When the diagnosis is cancer, it’s a big shock at first“, explains Brockmann. You lose control over yourself and your future life. Happiness is the farthest thing from your mind. Then you start living day to day with this disease and at one point you accept it. “And not just that, but in time you can actually forget about a disease like cancer“, the sociologist adds. It’s at that point that the level of happiness goes back to the level it was before the diagnosis.

So if physical well-being allows it, nothing stands in the way of more moments of happiness. The Allensbach poll demonstrates that 68 percent of people over 50 are happy when they are able to create an active lifestyle, whether that means going on a backpacking trip through Spain, regular bowling nights with old girlfriends or dancing lessons for seniors with their partner.

The intensity of those experiences are not the essential part here, but rather their frequency. Single big experiences like a lottery win for example obviously always make you feel happy – but only for a short period of time. Little by little you get used to having money. At some point the feeling of happiness will return to the same level as it was before the big victory.

 
In old age people are satisfied with few things. It´s health, family and time for themselves what counts and makes them happy; © SXC

Bad luck is sidelined

Brockmann found out that while the allure of money is especially distinctive during your best years, it fades in time. The 50 plus active adults (=“Best Agers“) already know that money alone doesn’t buy you happiness. That is probably why they really aren’t keen on working past the age of 60 and making more money. The Swiss sociologist Peter Gross, author of the book “Lucky Old Age“, still questions why there is not at least a choice. “Regardless on what I decide, it’s particularly the freedom to make their own choices, that makes people happy“, according to Gross.

The fact of the matter is: Few of the young at heart senior citizens attribute their feeling of happiness to a satisfying job or professional success. All the meetings and commitments often take away valuable leisure time. And most senior citizens are happy precisely when they have time for themselves. This is something Gross is able to confirm: “Happiness in old age consists of deliverance of constraints and the possibility to be able to arrange your day freely and according to your own preferences.“

Brockmann goes a step further by observing that a job with its pressure to succeed and potential commute makes you downright unhappy. “Senior citizens get out of the rat race of competition“, states the sociologist. Certain uncertainties like the threat of unemployment thus go away. Having said this, retirement thus brings about a considerate benefit and not just a loss as commonly assumed. Senior citizens should use this extra time for themselves and create something new, Gross requests. “It’s just like a blank CD, which is destined to be burned with music.“

Nadine Lormis
REHACARE.de

(Translated by Elena O'Meara)