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You?ll be happiest during these two years of your life, according to science
15 May 2018
According to new research, we’re happiest at two points in our lives—not just one. Researchers at the London School of Economics and Political Science asked 23,000 German volunteers aged 17 to 85 to rate their life satisfaction. Participants predicted how happy they would feel in five years, and then, after five years’ time, reported back on how they actually felt. Their results? Anything but negative! The study found that happiness tends to follow a U-shaped curve over an individual’s lifetime, with satisfaction reaching higher levels during the extremes of the study’s age range and swinging down with middle age. Plus, the researchers noted the two most important years when happiness peaks: ages 23 and 69.
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