The Atlantic:
The real roots of midlife crisis
17 November 2014
The idea that the expectations gap closes with age has recently received some empirical backing, in the form of fascinating findings by Hannes Schwandt, a young economist at Princeton University's Center for Health and Wellbeing. He used a German longitudinal survey, with data from 1991 to 2004, that, unusually, asked people about both their current life satisfaction and their expected satisfaction five years hence. That allowed him to compare expectations with subsequent reality for the same individuals over time.
This article was published by The Atlantic on November 17, 2014
Link to article here
Related publications
'Unmet Aspirations as an Explanation for the Age U-Shape in Human Wellbeing', Hannes Schwandt, Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper No.1229, July 2013
Longitudinal Evidence for a Midlife Nadir in Human Well-being: Results from Four Data Sets, Terence C. Cheng, Nattavudh Powdthavee and Andrew Oswald, mimeo, February 2014
Related links
Nattavudh Powdthavee webpage
Hannes Schwandt webpage
Wellbeing Programme webpage