A new study finds that happiness is pretty much constant across age, even in very old adults.  The study Growing Old in American: Expectations vs. Reality was published by the Pew Center.

Original image from the Pew Research Center

From a summary of the full report (PDF):

Are Older Adults Happy?

They’re about as happy as everyone else. And perhaps more importantly, the same factors that predict happiness among younger adults-good health, good friends and financial security-by and large predict happiness among older adults. However, there are a few age-related differences in life’s happiness sweepstakes. Most notably, once all other key demographic variables are held constant, being married is a predictor of happiness among younger adults but not among older adults (perhaps because a significant share of the latter group is made up of widows or widowers, many of whom presumably have “banked” some of the key marriage-related correlates of happiness, such as financial security and a strong family life). Among all older adults, happiness varies very little by age, gender or race.

What do you think?  The New York Times asked  a similar question in their blog New Old Age, and receievd lots of responses.

Does this reserch hold true based on your experience?  Have you encountered studies that lead to different conclusions?

If you were working with a group of 65+ year-olds, what components of positive psychology would be most relevant?  How does the science of happiness apply to aging?

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