LAHORE – The Centre of Economic Performance at the London School of Economics and Political Science interviewed 23,000 German adults aged 17–85, questioning them on how happy they were and what was their vision for the next 5 years.
Those same people were re-interviewed to see if the reality matched their expectations when the time came.
What the team discovered was a happiness U-curve between ages 20 and 70, with joy peaking at 23 and 69.
At the age of 23 you are young and hopeful, waiting to see where life will take you.
At 69 you are relaxed and settled, doing things you could as a young blooded hard worker.
Interestingly, researchers noted that younger people tended to overestimate the happiness of their future selves, while the older people tended to underestimate it, so during the followup interviews the twenty-somethings reported being disillusioned by the last five years, while the sixty-somethings were pleasantly surprised by the unfolding of their lives.
Stay happy and fit!
