People get happier as they get older, study reveals

January 10th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

A mature brain is better equipped to see the sunny side of life, research suggests
Psychologists say people focus on more positive events as they move from middle to old age

By
Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 11:29 PM on 9th January 2012

Misery loves company: Actor Richard Wilson as infamous TV grump Victor Meldrew

Victor Meldrew certainly wouldn’t believe it.

But older people are happier and get more positive as they age, according to psychologists.

In contrast to the relentlessly negative outlook of TV’s grumpiest old man, the study found a more mature brain is better equipped to see the sunny side of life.

As people move from middle to old age, they tend to focus on positive events and filter out bad ones, the researchers suggest.

Older people cope with a negative event by simply shrugging it off and moving on, said the study for the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science.

In contrast, younger folk are more likely to dwell on a setback until something positive happens to distract them from it.

A series of tests showed older minds focus on the positive.

For example, after seeing a series of photos of faces, older people later recall the ones that are smiling.

Bright side of life: The study showed the over-50s were better at looking for the positive in any situation and handling their own expectations

This suggests that as the brain ages and loses some of its memory, there is a subconscious choice in what to remember and what to let go, and the positive memories are more likely to stay.

‘Some psychologists believe that cognitive processes are responsible – in particular, focusing on and remembering positive events and leaving behind negative ones,’ the researchers said.

'You'll be 72 in March - aren't you leaving it a bit late?'

‘Those processes, they think, help older people regulate their emotions, letting them view life in a sunnier light.’

The over-50s are also more likely than younger adults to ‘prune’ their social circle or friends if they find any of their acquaintances ‘bring them down’.

Researcher Derek Isaacowitz of Northeastern University in Boston said more study was needed to help others by discovering why happiness and age were linked.

He added: ‘Older people are happier on average, but we still want to know in what situations does this particular strategy make this particular person with these particular qualities or strengths feel good.’

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Well, at 61 I can hojnestly say that I, and just about averyone I meet of my age, are definitely not happy at all.
We live in a country where people have no repsect, either for themselves or others. They have even less respect for other people’s property or for the environment. We have had successive governments that have failed miserably to curb violence, theft, robbery. nor have they managed to improve education or health services. The caring system for both the elderly and the very young is abysmal.The transport system is a joke. It seems there is a large proportion of people who like nothing betterthan to make our lives as miserable and nasty as possible. I could go on. you get the picture. Happy? I don’t think so.

– AWG, Suffolk, 10/1/2012 06:17

I would agree that the older one gets, the more likely and easier it becomes to ‘let go’ of negative influences……along with all the angst and ‘guilt’ that goes with trying to be ‘all things to all people’, and to simply try to focus upon ones life in the here and now; with neither past regrets or future worries; because the older one becomes, the more you begin to appreciate the present moment, and also begin to properly understand that most of the anxiety was often created from thoughts of past events or scenarios of the future that might never happen.
Truth is that all any of us have is the present…..no matter what our age. We often fail to live happy lives because of worrying about things that might never happen, or else, are so caught up in the past that we are never really in the present .
Maybe age does bring a recognition of how short life really is, and of how much of life has been spent worrying about things that may not happen.

– Kate, Manchester, 10/1/2012 05:15

DM readers seem to be the miserable people on the planet, it helps to confirm the edit-orial agenda !
– Anne, West Midlands EU, 09/1/2012 22:37 Couldn’t agree more, they can be relied upon to whinge, moan and highlight the negative of everything

– karen, australia, 10/1/2012 02:45

The biggest problem is that there are thousands of men and women out there living alone. In old age that’s a real problem. Loneliness and depression go hand in hand. 1000’s of couples divorced, wishing they, like their parents had tried harder. All exchanged one set of problems for another. Modern instant gratification world. It was all too easy.

– The Green Eye, of Western Australia., 10/1/2012 01:36

in my old body I have a wealth of experience which I only wish I’d had 40 years sooner.
Being old in years [60+] is not funny, in fact it has so many drawbacks, there are days not worth living … the long nights, aching bones, poor eyesight and the rest of it that goes with age.
Here I am today a teenager of the 60’s – that ‘we don’t give a hoot’ generation, that has finally succumb
One day, all of you young-un’s posting on here shall be old too

– WCH, in a world of my own, 10/1/2012 01:04

I have constant backache everyday but I agree. I’m happier in my mid 50’s than I’ve ever been. I dont worry about silly things anymore such as what I’m going to wear how much I weigh or if the house is’nt the Ideal Home I once dreamed of. You choose how feel. I choose to be happy and content.

– june, bedworth uk, 10/1/2012 00:57

It’s great! I’ve started smoking, binge-drinking, having unprotected sex, slobbing out and pigging out on junk food, content with the knowledge that they won’t kill me prematurely. Mind you, the eighty years of abstinence were a complete pain in the nether region.

– Old Codger, Enjoying life, 10/1/2012 00:17

Obviously these psychiatrists have never lived, worked with or cared for an OAP then!

– In the teapot, Of life, 10/1/2012 00:08

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