The Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) is an advocacy organization, and as such we often focus on advocating for policy and societal changes that can bring us closer to achieving our vision of a society in which older adults live active, independent and purposeful lives, free from age discrimination.

And while there is a seemingly endless supply of issues in Canada that require our attention and advocacy–you can read about all of our advocacy priorities on our website, from healthcare issues to financial security, freedom from ageism, aging well and immunization—there are also many positive aspects of aging that should not be forgotten. Take for instance the fact that a great number of published papers indicate that we experience peak happiness not just in youth but also in older age, with a dip in midlife around age 50. This is referred to as the U-shaped curve of happiness.

Surveys and studies in developed countries around the world have given investigators a closer look at the relation between age and what psychologists call “emotional well-being”—that is, when a person consistently reports more positive than negative feelings.

A major article in Scientific American points out that the results of a more than two decades long US based survey showed that “participants were becoming happier over time.” The article observes that research has “confirmed that the rise in contentment cannot be explained by reduced daily stress, although admittedly, elders are less burdened by work and child care duties than younger adults are. And even though happy people often outlive gloomy types, studies suggest that the happiness seen in older people reflects a change over time rather than a consistently sunny personality. Psychologists at the University of California, Irvine, and the University of Southern California followed up with more than 2,800 people for 23 years to chart how their emotional well-being changed with age. In 2001 the results came out: the older people got, the less they experienced negative feelings.”

So just what do these studies on age and happiness have to say? Research suggests that happiness is influenced by life experiences and the biological, cognitive, and emotional changes associated with aging.

Some theories suggested by NICE (National Initiative for the Care of Elderly in Canada) include:

• Older adults focus more on regulating emotions to maximize positive feelings in their remaining time.
• There is less emphasis on planning work and education and more on interpersonal relationships.
• The “age-related positivity effect” is a tendency to focus on sources of happiness while downplaying negative information.
• Increased comfort with ambiguity.
• A narrowing of the social circle means engaging mainly in the most satisfying relationships.
• Older people are on the whole more accepting of sadness than younger people.
• Older people can view injustice with more compassion and less despair.
• When elders realize that they don’t have all the time in the world, they see their priorities clearly.