People Tend To Be Happier After Middle Age

What has been called “middle age” is the stage between 40 and 60 years. Until now it had been said that this phase was marked by a crisis. However, several studies have shown that this is not so true; Everything seems to indicate that people tend to be happier after middle age.

Today life expectancy is much higher than before. There were times when reaching 50 was not so likely. Today, on the other hand, exceeding this age is common. In addition, it is not surprising that in the coming decades the number of centenarians continues to grow.

From all this it follows that what was called “youth ” a while ago, now has broader limits. People marry later and have children at a later age. Thus, these are just some of the circumstances that “bring happiness” to the stage that follows youth.

A reliable study

Researchers Nancy Galambos, Harvey Krahn and Matt Johnson from the University of Alberta in Canada conducted a study on happiness at different ages of life. The study is long-term, as it has been carried out over several years.

To conduct the research, they  formed two groups. One of them was followed from 18 to 43 years of age. The other group was followed from 23 to 37 years old. The reference points that were taken were the main milestones of life such as change of marital status, health situation, work aspects, etc.

The study reached five interesting conclusions :

• Most of the people studied show that they are happier during their 40s than they were at 18 years of age.
• There are higher degrees of happiness in people who are married and have a job. In both cases there is better physical health.
• There is no evidence that there is such a thing as a “midlife crisis. “
• In general, people are happier after the age of 40.
• The feeling of well-being begins to grow faster after the age of 30.

The myth of the midlife crisis

About three decades ago the term “midlife crisis” began to become popular. The idea circulated that reaching 40 plunged people into a difficult grief to cope with. They felt that the years had passed very quickly and this made them sad. They ended up doing nonsense with the illusion of catching the youth that was leaving them.

The origin of this thesis was an investigation carried out by the professor of economics at the University of Warwick, Andrew Oswald. According to him, happiness is shaped like a “U”. The limits of well-being are around the age of 20 and then, in the twilight of life, at about 70 years. The moment of least well-being occurs around the age of 40.

However, research from the University of Alberta and other studies have shown that this is not true. They agree that by age 43 there is a decrease in the feeling of happiness. Despite this, throughout that decade of life, as a whole, the feeling of well-being is stable and tends to grow. This means that in reality, many manage to reach their fullness in that stage that we label as middle age.

Be happier after middle age

Both the greater life expectancy and the relativization of the concept of youth make it very rare today to see someone in their 40s in an existential crisis. In fact, the opposite is observed. In these years, many people begin to live a fullness that they have never experienced before.

When you are very young, inexperience and lack of temperance with your emotions can play very bad tricks. The normal thing is that many mistakes are made, although the normal thing is that the person, thanks to his youth, has enough strength to overcome them. But it is difficult to have stability, tranquility or clarity. This causes suffering and applies above all to the field of love, which generates enormous expectations in youthful ages.

Over time, the ability to weigh the facts increases. It also reduces impulsiveness and excessive intensity of emotions. This effectively means that many may be happier after middle age. There will be specific cases in which this is not the case. But in general, that combination of enough experience with enough vitality results in greater well-being.