At last, some good news about the March of Time:
Americans grow happier as they grow older, according to a University of Chicago study that is one of the most thorough examinations of happiness ever done in America. The study also found that baby boomers are not as content as other generations, African Americans are less happy than whites, men are less happy than women, happiness can rise and fall between eras, and that, with age the differences narrow.
The increase in happiness with age is consistent with the “age as maturity hypothesis,” [author Yang] Yang said. With age comes positive psychosocial traits, such as self-integration and self-esteem; these signs of maturity could contribute to a better sense of overall well-being.
As for his finding that baby boomers are less satisfied with their lives?
“This is probably due to the fact that the generation as a group was so large, and their expectations were so great, that not everyone in the group could get what he or she wanted as they aged due to competition for opportunities. This could lead to disappointment that could undermine happiness,” Yang said.
So maybe we BBs will mellow with age, eh? It wasn’t enough that we got to slurp up more than our fair share of planetary resources, and that the media and the marketplace have been catering to our every whim since we were toddlers? We didn’t get to be Meryl Streep or Bill Gates or Carly Simon or Magic Johnson or Bill Clinton? We didn’t all get our hearts’ desires? Poor things, we.
As I used to tell my children, let’s just be happy anyway, okay?