Your happiness in life may not be U-shaped – here’s how it could vary

The well-known assertion that happiness exhibits a U-shaped pattern, peaking at the beginning and end of life, might not be accurate after all.

This idea gained traction following a pivotal study conducted by researchers David Blanchflower and Andrew Oswald in 2008, based on a survey involving half a million individuals. This concept has since been widely accepted and has been featured in popular literature.

However, researchers Fabian Kratz and Josef Brüderl from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich propose that this understanding could be flawed.

Motivated by his own observations concerning older adults, Kratz set out to reassess this theory. The researchers analyzed self-reported happiness data collected from 70,922 participants involved in Germany’s annual socio-economic panel survey spanning from 1984 to 2017. Their analysis revealed a trend wherein happiness typically declines throughout adulthood until individuals reach their late 50s; thereafter, it begins to rise again until around age 64, only to drop significantly afterward.

Kratz believes previous findings might have been mischaracterized by simplifying the happiness trajectory and neglecting the impact of deaths from suicide or health issues. He states, “The impression arises that after a certain age, happiness merely increases because the unhappy individuals are no longer alive.”

Julia Rohrer from the University of Leipzig highlights that there has been extensive discourse regarding non-replicable research findings in social sciences, which vanish when new data comes to light. “A less recognized issue,” she notes, “is that researchers sometimes examine their data in systematically flawed manners. This can yield results that replicate consistently but are still misleading.”

Experts indicate that this study raises fresh inquiries. Philip Cohen from the University of Maryland notes, “This paper is excellent for considering what we genuinely seek in research,” suggesting an investigation into the reasons behind the fluctuation of happiness over a lifetime and the possibility of mitigating these lows. Both Kratz and Brüderl remain cautious about delving into the reasons behind their observations.

Oswald finds the study’s results intriguing and emphasizes that all research deserves consideration, yet he argues that the researchers did not account for variables that could affect happiness, such as marital status and income.

He also mentions that the research is limited to a single country, leaving questions about the applicability of these results globally. Kratz acknowledges this presents an exciting opportunity for further studies, especially since these findings could influence public policy. He states, “While previous scholars advocated for affirmative action policies to assist individuals facing midlife crises, our results indicate that the more pressing issue may be the decline in happiness in older age.”

If you require support, contact the UK Samaritans at 116123 (samaritans.org) or the US Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 (988lifeline.org). For additional services, visit bit.ly/SuicideHelplines for resources in other countries.