Hardly anyone wants to grow old (although it beats the only available alternative), but the results of a recent survey indicate that, contrary to popular belief, people grow happier as they grow older. Overall the survey participants of all ages expected older people to be less happy, but in fact the older people in the survey rated their happiness at a higher level than the younger people in the survey rated theirs. Curiously, people generally think that they themselves are likely to be happier than the average as they age, but that everyone else will grow more miserable. This press release doesn’t explicitly state whether the older people remembered themselves as happier at 30 than they are at their current age. It would also be interesting to see a follow-up study where the younger people in this survey are asked again decades from now to rate the happiness of their younger selves, and to see how the ratings they gave now compare to what they say when they’re looking back at this time.
Happiness seems to grow as we age
