Older Americans May Be Happier Than Younger Ones

In research published this year in the journal Social Science & Medicine, Ross and co-author John Mirowsky, also at UT-Austin, used data on 1,450 people who were asked in the General Social Survey how often in the previous seven days they had felt any of a range of emotions: blue, sad, lonely, anxious, tense, excited, embarrassed, ashamed, content or serene. Some of the emotions were positive, and some were negative. Simultaneously, some emotions, such as anger, were active, while others, such as serenity, were passive.

In line with Yang's findings, Ross and Mirowsky found that advanced age was positively correlated with feeling positive emotions. But the researchers also found that being older was negatively correlated with active emotions. Older people, in other words, had both more positive and more passive emotional states.

"A lot of research in different areas finds the elderly have higher levels of depression, so it looked as though mental health was bad among the elderly," she said. "What this study does is say, 'Yeah, it is not that the elderly have negative emotions, but that when they are negative, they are passive.' "

Older people reported more loneliness -- a negative but passive emotion -- but they also reported much more serenity, a positive one.

"The reason we think the elderly have higher levels of depression is not because they have higher levels of negative emotions but that they have higher levels of passivity," Ross said. "If the problem is having lower levels of energy, maybe the answers lie in increasing levels of energy, like reading a book or taking a walk -- mental and physical activity -- taking a bike ride or a yoga class. The sadness part may not be a negative emotion but a manifestation of the energy level.

"Young people -- the very people we think from the stereotype are best off -- in fact have high levels of anger and anxiety and also high levels of depression, compared to middle-aged adults."

Younger adults were far more likely to have financial worries, troubled emotional relationships and professional stressors, she said.

"The image of youth or young adulthood as the best time of life is probably not an accurate stereotype."