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Never mind the young
it’s the oldest who are happiest: Research shows our satisfaction increases once we pass 45
– Reported, March 12, 2012
It’s supposed to be the young who have all the fun.
But in fact the older we get, the happier we are, researchers claim.
Although our physical quality of life goes down once we get past middle age, our mental satisfaction increases.
The University of Warwick study backs up previous research showing that our happiness levels form a U-curve
Researchers analysed lifestyle and health patterns in more than 10,000 people in the U.S. and the UK. They evaluated quality of life using eight different factors including perception of general health, pain, social functioning and mental health.
Dr Saverio Stranges, who led the study, said happiness may increase with age because we develop ‘better coping abilities’ to deal with hardship than younger people.
‘It’s obvious that people’s physical quality of life deteriorates as they age, but what is interesting is that their mental well-being doesn’t also deteriorate – in fact it increases,’ he added.
‘We suggest that this could be due to better coping abilities, an interpretation supported by previous research showing older
‘It could also be due to a lowering of expectations from life, with older people less likely to put pressure on themselves in the personal and professional spheres.’
The study also found that those who slept between six and eight hours per day tended to have both better physical and mental health scores than those who slept on average less than six hours or more than eight hours.
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk
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