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As we age, our levels of happiness change, and it affects how content we are with life. As children we get happily really easily, therefore, we are happy most of the time. When we turn 18 and head to college, life gets harder and we don't know how to adjust to it, and our levels of happiness start to decline because we become much more busy as we approach our 30s and 40s, and we start to feel as if we are getting old. But, once we hit our late 40s and get into our 50s and 60s, our happiness levels rise again and we start to find happiness in the little things in life again. This is because we have much more experience in life by this point and we know that there is no point in being upset over little things, and that we should find happiness wherever we are.

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"I hope I die before I get old," wrote Pete Townsend of the Who in 1965, neatly encapsulating our culture's veneration of youth - and disdain for those unfortunate souls who no longer possess it.

The twenty-year-old Townsend was, of course, to be disappointed: in May he turned seventy. But over the decades he may have revised his views on the grimness of growing old. Because the ageing process isn't necessarily a steady descent into misery; on the contrary, the evidence suggests that happiness is likely to increase as we head towards old age.

This isn't to say that the idea of the mid-life crisis has had its day. In general, people seem to begin their lives with a high degree of contentment. From the age of around 18 we become gradually less happy, reaching a nadir in our 40s. One estimate suggests that, over the 30 years from teen to middle age, life satisfaction scores dip by an average of around 5-10%.

However, the happiness curve is U-shaped. As we head into our 50s, levels of contentment take off again. By the time we're in our 60s, it's likely that we'll never have been happier. (The upward trend doesn't continue indefinitely, though: unsurprisingly, levels of satisfaction usually dip in the last couple of years of life.)

We are, of course, talking averages here: broad statistical trends, typically based upon responses to one question (such as "Taken all together, how would you say things are these days - would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?"). An individual's personal experiences may be quite different.

Nevertheless, it's a pattern that's been detected in many large-scale studies. The U-shaped curve emerges very clearly, for example, from data on half a million Americans and Europeans.

The pattern has been found too in longitudinal studies of the general population: that is, research that follows the same group of people over a number of years. This kind of study is expensive and challenging - and, consequently, less common. But it's also the only way to trace how a specific individual's happiness changes with age.

The U-shaped curve remains when you control for factors such as birth cohort, physical health, income, number of children, marital status, and education. It's seen in both sexes, though men tend to be happier than women (albeit women smile more). And, would you believe, researchers have even claimed to have detected it in great apes.

A study of 500 chimpanzees and orangutans rated for happiness by their zoo keepers indicated a primate mid-life crisis at around the age of 30 - a finding that led to speculation that some (as yet unidentified) age-related biological influence is at work.

However, though the U-shaped curve is pervasive it's most certainly not universal. For one thing, it seems to be far more prevalent in high-income nations. In countries of the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe (Albania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Russia, for example) wellbeing in childhood is markedly lower than in the west, and it then steadily declines with age. Life satisfaction in Latin America and the Caribbean is reasonably high in childhood (though lower than in the west), but again deteriorates from there. In sub-Saharan Africa countries such as Angola, Cameroon, and Ethiopia, life satisfaction remains low throughout the lifespan.

Even in the case of wealthy nations some academics have argued that the U-shaped curve is a statistical illusion. (Economists, incidentally, figure prominently in the debate over the U-shaped curve.) Perhaps, for example, unhappier people simply die younger.

There's certainly evidence of a correlation between wellbeing and mortality. A new UK study that followed more than 9,000 people in their 60s for eight years found a death rate of 29% for those in the bottom quarter for happiness. For the most contented 25%, on the other hand, the rate was just 9%.

Some of that stark difference can be attributed to physical health. The UK study found that older people with illnesses such as coronary heart disease, arthritis, and chronic lung disease were likely to have lower levels of wellbeing. Moreover, it may be that happiness helps prevent people falling ill. Yet even after controlling for initial physical health, wealth, education, and depression, happiness was still associated with a 30% reduction in the risk of death.

The link between happiness and mortality may be skewing the statistics to a degree, but the overall death rate isn't nearly high enough to account entirely for the U-shaped curve. Perhaps more subtle biases are at work. Perhaps researchers haven't always fully grasped the complexity lurking in the large sample data. What happens for example when you factor in the possibility that the people getting happier in the studies are essentially the same individuals who began life with high levels of contentment? After all, happy people are more likely to experience positive life events ( career success, for instance, or great relationships), which in turn bring even greater happiness.

When you correct for this effect, say economists Paul Frijters and Tony Beatton, the U-shaped curve disappears; what we see instead is an overall gradual decline in happiness with age. Not everyone, of course, stays in a longitudinal survey; inevitably, a percentage of participants drop out. When Frijters and Beatton controlled for this factor they found that the happiness shape changes again. This time the data formed a wave: happiness remained fairly steady up to around age 55, at which point it increased, before falling sharply at about age 75.

The U-shaped curve theory has its dissenters. Yet evidence for its existence in the prosperous west keeps on coming, most recently in a longitudinal study of the general population in Britain, Australia, and Germany that tracked individual changes in wellbeing. So if it's accurate, what are the reasons?

The short answer is that no one knows, not least because the surveys that generate the data are less well suited to elicit explanations. This isn't to say that theories haven't been suggested. Two are particularly popular in the scientific literature. The first is economic: essentially, it all boils down to the effect of work on our wellbeing. The downward curve of contentment begins as we enter employment in early adulthood and accelerates as work takes up more and more of our time in mid-life. But we reap the rewards as we enter our 50s - established in a career, financially secure and with the kids having finally flown the nest, we now have time to enjoy the fruits of our frenetic mid-life labour.

That's the idea, at least.

The other dominant theory is psychological. We start off in life with high hopes, which we gradually realise are unlikely to be fulfilled. "Dashed hopes and good intentions. Good, better, best, bested," as Edward Albee put it in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Middle age brings a new sense of realism; a determination to enjoy life as it is; and thus an increase in happiness.

Whatever the explanation, the U-shaped curve teaches us that a mid-life slump is both normal and temporary. Irish comedian Dylan Moran boils life down to just four stages: "Child, failure, old and dead". But then he's 43. Ten years on, the chances are life may seem a much happier affair.

Follow @ProfDFreeman and @JasonFreeman100 on Twitter.

This blog first appeared in The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2015/jun/24/life-happin...

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How do our levels of happiness change as we age?

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"I hope I die before I get old," wrote Pete Townsend of the Who in 1965, neatly encapsulating our culture's veneration of youth - and disdain for those unfortunate souls who no longer possess it. The twenty-year-old Townsend was, of course, to be disappointed: in May he turned seventy.

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external impacts on happiness are only temporary

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external impacts on happiness are only temporary

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in this article there are many studies that show that when you are getting your happiness from external forces, it is only temporary. These studies truly prove the fact that one must find happiness from within, and not go searching for it elsewhere. You have to be happy with yourself and where you are at as a person to truly be happy, and you may find happiness from outside places besides yourself but it is only temporary. The only time you will truly be happy and it will last is when you find it from within yourself.

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"I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe." - Dalai Lama

Do you feel that your happiness is affected by the external events that happen around you or TO you? Many people do.

However, I'm now going to show you WHY external factors that affect happiness are only temporary.

To summarise the findings, happiness is determined by your state of mind. Simple right?

I'm about to outline two separate case studies that you would assume would drastically affect your happiness level. I'll also show you why the individual with the negative external event can even end up happier than the individual with the positive external event.

These case study ideas come from the Dalai Lama's book titled ' The Art of Happiness ' (he copied my idea of The stAart of Happiness)... 😉 I've overlaid them with my own thoughts and ideas and I'd also love to hear yours.

Case Study 1) Positive External Event

There is a woman who has a dream of being able to retire early one day. She works extremely hard and is very successful along the way. In fact, not only does she get to retire early, she gets to retire SUPER early... At age 32!

The woman had built up a very successful business and with good fortune (the external event), another company decided to acquire her business for a large sum of money. Of course, at age 32 she couldn't believe it! This was her ticket to retiring early. She had enough money to be able to comfortably support herself and her family for the remainder of her life. As you would expect, she was on a massive high! Her happiness levels were sky high.

Case Study 2) Negative External Event

There is a man who is living a comfortable and normal life. He has a loving family, goes to work as most people do and lives a good life.

However, one day he discovers he's not feeling to well. He goes to his doctor and does a blood test. A few days later he gets a phone call from the doctor (the external event):

"Hi, I have some news that I need you to hear and understand. I have had a look at your blood test results and noticed something was not normal. I looked at your second sample and it confirmed what the first sample showed me. I'm sorry to say, but you have contracted HIV and you are now HIV positive".

As you can imagine, this man was absolutely devastated. Who wouldn't be? He sunk to his deepest low in years, if not ever.

Who Do You Think Ends Up Happier?

Well, it may not be as easy as saying who ends up happier. But we can take a look into how each individual has their happiness affected by these external events in both the short and long-term.

Both of the individuals in the case studies have a base level of happiness. This is your called your 'neutral state'. If you're getting about your daily life on a normal day then you would most likely be at your base level of happiness.

The external events do actually have a significant effect on the happiness levels of both individuals. However, the key point to note is that this effect on happiness is only temporary.

The lady who retires early has a higher state of happiness. Whereas, the man diagnosed with HIV has a lower state of happiness.

Over time, however, both individuals return to their base level of happiness or back to a neutral state of mind.

If this was to be displayed on a graph it would look something like the below.

The reason that I have the event itself as having a smaller impact then the post-event is due to the fact that as we experience an event we can feel discomfort (as in Case Study 1) or perhaps denial (as in Case Study 2).

Obviously, each individual will experience a different impact on their happiness levels based on their prior experiences.

Why do both cases return to their base level of happiness?

Well, it's quite simple. You get used to a certain situation.

The woman who retires will get used to retirement to a point it's no longer the excitement or thrill for her.

The man who has contracted HIV fully accepts and understands that he has the disease and returns to focusing on living his best life.

Now, I mentioned up front that I will explain how a negative experience can actually make someone happier than a positive experience.

This is all based on the changed condition of the individuals mindset and outlook, and only happens in the longer-term, but it can and does happen.

If we take Case Study 1, how do you think the woman who retires feels after 3 years? 5 years? 10 years? 20 years?

Although she had aimed and planned to retire early and this was what would make her extremely happy, over time if she were not to set herself some further goals and have some purpose or meaning to her life, she would become complacent, potentially bored, potentially get into drugs and potentially end up more depressed than she had ever been in her life.

This is all hypothetical, but at the same time, it's realistic.

What do you notice about a lot of the celebrity stories? Or perhaps lottery winners?

It's exactly this. With the short-term happiness gained by wealth, it can create longer-term damage.

Now, what about Case Study 2?

The man who contracted HIV can accept the fact that he has the disease. His outlook on life completely changes. He focuses more on living in the present. He is more grateful for the people in his life, his surroundings. He appreciates life more than he has ever before in his life.

And now, can you believe it, he is actually the happiest he has ever been. His relationships with his family and friends are at their strongest. He is living each day like it is his last. He is pursuing has passions and his dreams like he never has before.

If I were to continue the graph above, it may look something like this.

To summarise this article, it is in the choice you make every day and NOT the external events around you that creates and sustains happiness in your life.

Happiness is the ultimate achievement of life.

However, happiness needs to be sustained. Short-bursts of happiness are great, but also don't lose sight of the bigger part of your life.

And if you're ever faced with a bad experience in your life, remember the story above. Everything works out in the end, and perhaps a bad experience may just have been the very best thing for you in your life.

Thoughts?

Brendan

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External Factors That Affect Happiness Are Only Temporary - Here's Proof! - The Start of Happiness

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"I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe." - Dalai Lama Do you feel that your happiness is affected by the external events that happen around you or TO you? Many people do.

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The audio in this screen recording is my interview with jay about this topic

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my boyfriend, Jay, makes me extremely happy. He is always there for me and always listens to what I have to say. he always tells me how much he loves me and how much I mean to him. When I am down, he is always there to lift me up. He does everything he possibly can to make me happy, even though he lives across the country. It makes me so happy that I can trust him from so far and that I can always count on him to make me feel better. He does everything he can to come to chicago as much as he can. Overall, he makes me feel like the most special and beautiful girl in the world and he makes sure I know how much he loves me and misses me. This can show that having a significant other who really values someone can make them feel genuine happiness.

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Many people who fall into depression and anxiety feel unwanted and unloved. knowing that I am surrounded by love and there are people in my life who value me and love me makes me feel genuinely happy and content in my life. Even when all else goes wrong and I feel down, I always know that I have family and friends who love me no matter what.

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as said in previous post, having friends who are there for you brings a lot of happiness. we can see this through Holden Caulfield and how he is somewhat depressed in the book. We can see that the reason he is so depressed and sad is because he doesn't have anyone, and he doesn't have any friends who he can talk to about his problems. I believe that if he had some friends who he could talk to, who could be there for him, he would be much happier and more confident.

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Pets are like companions to most people that have one. Having a dog is like having another member of the family to me. I feel like my dog is another companion and another best friend who is there for you and makes you feel more loved, which brings happiness

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most people voted either, friends, family, or food. Not a huge chunk of people voted for money, but a good amount did. This shows that most people value their friends and family, and that is what genuinely makes them happy.

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Friendship is something that makes everyone happy. When you have true friends who are always there for you and help you through your problems and give you support when you need, it makes you happy.

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happiness is something that is not forced and chasing after happiness is not the way to achieve it. Feelings are not meant to last and you should live life how it is and let happiness and feelings come and go, and this will lead to ultimate satisfaction in life once you accept this.

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Answer (1 of 442): > "Progress equals happiness." - Tony Robbins Happiness is a choice and their are specific habits we can use to get us exactly where we want to be. What's in the way of you experiencing true happiness? It's yourself. Here's a few ways you can begin to feel happier now: * F...

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Personally, I find true happiness when I dance. I feel like when I get on the dance floor, I am able to forget everything that is stressful in my life and I can really enjoy myself doing something I am passionate about. Dancing is known to relieve stress and when stress is relieved it causes a lot more happiness. It is an activity where one can exert all their energy and take out all the stress that is in their life. In the end, it relaxes you more.