Posted on 05/19/2008 12:32:54 PM PDT by blam
With Age Comes A Sense Of Peace And Calm, Study Shows
ScienceDaily (May 19, 2008) — Aging brings a sense of peace and calm, according to a new study from the Population Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin. Starting at about age 60, participants reported more feelings of ease and contentment than their younger counterparts.
Catherine Ross and John Mirowsky, professors of sociology, have published the findings in "Age and the Balance of Emotions" in the May 19 issue of Social Science and Medicine.
The findings reveal aging is associated with more positive than negative emotions, and more passive than active emotions, Ross said.
Previous research on emotions associated with aging focused on negative emotions, such as depression. However, a second dimension underlying emotions is an active versus passive dimension, which is less studied, but may be important in explaining how emotions shift as people age, according to the researchers.
"The passive/positive combination reveals that contentment, calm and ease are some of the most common emotions people feel as they age," Ross said. "Emotions that are both active and negative, such as anxiety and anger, are especially unlikely among the elderly."
The study examined 1,450 responses to the 1996 U.S. General Social Survey conducted by the National Opinion Research Center, which included English-speaking people aged 18 and older. The gender distribution of the sample was 56 percent female and 44 percent male, and the racial distribution was 81 percent white, 14 percent African American and 5 percent other races.
Participants responded to statements such as "On how many days in the past seven days have you...felt that you couldn't shake the blues, felt sad, felt lonely, felt anxious and tense, felt worried, felt so restless that you couldn't sit long in a chair, felt angry at someone, felt mad at someone, felt outraged at something somebody had done, felt calm, felt at ease, felt contented, felt happy, felt overjoyed by something, felt excited about or interested in something, felt proud, felt embarrassed, felt ashamed."
The researchers then grouped the emotions in four categories: active, passive, positive and negative.
Secondary findings reveal women had more negative than positive emotions, and more passive than active emotions than men. Also, participants with higher income and education levels had significantly more positive emotions than those with lower income and education levels.
The research was funded in part by the National Institute on Aging.
i call shananigans on this report....my life as i have gotten older is no where near peace and calm......
I wonder how much money they spent on this study. It just makes sense, by the time people hit age 60 their retirement plans are pretty much locked in place and they have the uncertainties of the future pretty much in perspective by then.
Every so often, there is one cranky old bastard that just can’t get over it.
hey i resemble that remark...roflmao....
I see some truth to it. I think when you’re younger, you spend so much time trying to fit in, being cool, making money, looking like a hotshot. When you get older, you really don’t give a rats butt about that stuff anymore. Your perspective changes and suddenly it’s just not important what other people think. Finally, I can leave the house without spending an hour styling my hair....cuz I don’t give a rats butt! :)
true but when you reach that age there comes a whole new set of worries, especially in this day and age.....as i see it the only peace and calm we will get is when they lay us 6 ft under......
I do too. I'll be 63 next month and if my wife weren't around to tell me I have on mismatched socks, I don't believe I'd give a rat's patootie.
It is helpful though if she tells me my fly is unzipped.
“It just makes sense, by the time people hit age 60 their retirement plans are pretty much locked in place and they have the uncertainties of the future pretty much in perspective by then.”
Uh, NO!!
Please expound.
I also think there is some validity to this. Of course, individuals vary.
Even though I’m 48, I’m more serene about my life than I was 10 years ago. My life is still just as crazy, but I don’t let it get to me. Accepting Christ into my life has a lot to do with this.
If we have done a fair job of taking care of ourselves, physically, financially, mentally wise and lucked out with our genetics, I would agree with this report.
Those of us with a fairly firm religious background and life seem to adjust fairly well, stay active and enjoy what God gives us. Also, we have learned to accept Grace and let God handle what we can’t.
I started weeding out the A$$holes and negative drainers in my life at age 50. At the age of 50-60, I stopped subscribing to the negative left wing pseudo news mags and newspapers. During that time I stopped watching the evening news, the nightly news and screaming heads on Sunday. This and a few other sites on the internet is where I get my news and suggestions re problems and opportunities in life.
I fly fish by myself or with a few select friends at least once a week. Fly fishing is a great life time sport.
My trophy bride still works 3 to 3.5 days per week and probably will until she drops dead. So we do things on our weekends and on her vacations. In the past year we took two nice cruises, one to Alaska and one to the Mexican Riveria.
We have two great 40 something sons, a great DIL and two wonderful Grand Children, and wonderful nieces and nephews. All of these adults work at good jobs and have responsible positions. We have only one liberal adult on both sides our our family.
Our family and close friends are enjoyable to be with and to do things with. Our close friends are from our church, my past work, my wife’s current work and my fly fishing.
As I hurtle rapidly into my 70’s, I remember what my Grand Dad told me about being in his 60’s to early 80’s, “It sure beats the alternative!”
“It just makes sense, by the time people hit age 60 their retirement plans are pretty much locked in place and they have the uncertainties of the future pretty much in perspective by then.”
Uh, NO!!
Very few people I know have retirement plans and those that do are wondering if they’re enough to live on. So, the future is fairly uncertain considering the economy, muslims, the destruction of our Republic etc....
Another recent study indicates that conservatives are far happier than liberals. Perhaps America could benefit from an calmer older conservative President at this time.
Yeah. Too bad there isn't one on the ticket.
Maybe we could get Haley Barbour to run next time.
Lol! It’s kinda fun to be a crazy ol’ man, isn’t it? ;)
I may be an exception but I retired at age 54. Nine years into my retirement, I am much happier than when I was working and the primary reason is that I stay as busy as I want to stay doing things that I want to do and not staying as busy as my employer wants me to be, doing the things he wants me to do.
On second thought, I’m not that much of an exception, I’ve seen retirees on this forum express similar thoughts.
I do have fun!
Well I guess that makes you a fungi!
(testing to see how long it takes Grampa Graybeard to get my lame attempt of a joke. I’m prepared to wait a few days.) :)
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