Skip to content
It’s commonly believed that childhood is the happiest period in life. Scientists from the German Sport University Cologne, Ruhr University Bochum, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, as well as the universities of Bern and Basel in Switzerland, conducted a thorough meta-analytical review to understand how subjective well-being (SWB) changes with age. The findings of this research were published in the Psychological Bulletin.
How the Scientists Conducted the Study
The researchers analyzed patterns of subjective well-being based on 443 longitudinal studies involving 460,902 individuals. They assessed three components: life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect. Participants were studied throughout their entire lives.
When Are We Happiest?
The feeling of happiness varies with age, and this process begins in childhood.
Our results showed that life satisfaction decreased from age 9 to 16, increased slightly until age 70, and then decreased again until age 96.
Study authors
96 years old is the oldest age for which there is data on life satisfaction levels. Negative emotional states underwent some changes between the ages of 9 and 22, then decreased until the age of 60, and increased again until the age of 87. At the same time, positive affect showed a consistent decline from age nine to 94. Changes in positive and negative affect were more significant than fluctuations in life satisfaction levels.
Why Do We Lose the Feeling of Happiness?
The slight decrease in life satisfaction from ages 9 to 16 is explained in part by changes in the body and social life during puberty. In simpler terms, being a teenager can be tough.
The decline in happiness in old age is linked to deteriorating health and physical functions. With age, social interactions decrease, in no small part due to the loss of close relatives and friends.
What Scientists Recommend
Social programs aimed at supporting subjective feelings of happiness, especially in old age, are needed.
In sum, we found a favorable developmental trajectory of SWB over large parts of life for life satisfaction and negative affect and decreases from childhood until late adulthood for positive affect. In late adulthood, SWB tended to worsen rather than improve.
Study authors
According to scientists, it’s crucial to consider and support the subjective well-being throughout one’s life. Therefore, interventions aimed at supporting or enhancing happiness in older individuals can be beneficial.
Reliable methods for coping with stress are compiled in the article All Bad – How to Find Support and New Meaning in Life from the Women’s Health School.
