Happiness is a State of Mind
Written by Kathryn Savage
Numerous studies suggest that happiness in old age might have more to do with attitude than health. In a study examining 500 Americans between the ages of 60 and 98 who were independent and had lived with a range of age related diseases (cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental health conditions and a host of other ills), the participants rated their happiness on average 8, on a scale of 1-10, (10 being the best). Research led by Dilip Jeste of the University of California at San Diego, discovered that optimism and “effective coping styles” were the most important factor in happiness in aging. Not perfect health and undisturbed wellness. 
Similarly, in a recent Washington Post report, a number of studies suggest that aging does contribute to overall happiness. Despite America’s tendency to champion youth with it's speedy metabolism and sag-free skin, more and more studies are supporting the notion that the golden years really are golden. When you’re talking overall contentment and happiness, elderly people tend to win. The recent findings stems from a General Social Survey that interviewed 50,000 Americans year after year to see how they change with age. The results? Like a fine wine, evidently...
In an interview with The Washington Post, Tom W. Smith, of the University of Chicago and director of the General Social Survey, asserts that “people who were biologically older are happier than younger adults,..”
Is this a generational thing?
Not really. The article asserts it’s not that older adults were taught by their parents to be more grateful and appreciative. Contentment in old age appears to have less to do with lessons taught by previous generations and more to do with less societal stress that may come from getting older - less financial stress, less interpersonal stress, less job stress etc.Though young people are often in better physical health, the stress of careers, kid’s, and daily life appear to weigh on overall levels of happiness and contentment.
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