HOPES FEARS
Good health, 31per cent
The poll suggests, logically enough, that concern for our own health and that of loved ones rises as people age. In the vigorous world of 18-34-year-olds, where notions of immortality might still abide, 22 per cent said it was their chief wish. That rose to 33 per cent among those 45-54, 38 per cent of those 55-64 and 45 per cent for those 65 and older.
Peace on Earth, 26 per cent
The desire for world peace is a perennial of beauty pageants and love-ins, though history suggests human conflict has existed in all eras and places. The survey does seem to suggest, however, that planet Earth might have a better chance at it if more women were in charge. Thirty-two per cent of women and only 20 per cent of men cited an end to world conflict as their greatest wish.
Winning the lottery, 14 per cent
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the poll suggests the wish for a windfall declined as we age. From a high of about 17 per cent in the 35-44 age group that named it their biggest wish, the percentage drops steadily to stand as the top hope of only 7 per cent of those 65 and over. Seniors have either learned money can’t buy happiness, or have run out of energy to spend it.
Cancer cure, 10 per cent
Fear of cancer is typically the No. 1 health worry. When the fear itself becomes debilitating, there’s even a name for it — carcinophobia. The priority given its cure didn’t change much across age categories, but it did rise slightly in upper-income levels, which we can only hope bodes well for the Canadian Cancer Society’s fundraising in 2016. Though we actually don’t donate in proportion to the diseases that kill us.
Money, 5 per cent
Pioneering work in the 1970s began challenging the notion that income was the chief measure of human utility or happiness. Work is about more than making of money. It involves status and comparative well-being. We judge ourselves less against superstars and celebrities than against others like us. Where work is seen as a social norm, its absence is emotionally, as well as financially, traumatic. We may carp about work. But we like to have work to carp about.
Health woes, 28 per cent
It’s not for nothing that revellers, when they toast, do so to one another’s health. It’s been said, many times, many ways, that the biggest gulf between people is not race or creed or whether one supports the Leafs or Habs. The biggest divide is between the healthy and the chronically unwell. As your granny will likely tell you over these holidays, as long as you’ve got your health, dear, anything’s possible.
Death, 17 per cent
The dead are never fully gone, present in memory, returning in dreams, enshrined in photos and keepsakes. Grief for profound loss is a universal human emotion, evident also in elephants and primates. Neuroanatomy shows grief activates regions of the brain associated with physical and emotional pain. Researchers describe “complicated grief” as even activating reward centres in the brain, as the bereaved yearns for the person whose company was so pleasurable.
The economy, 17 per cent
Economic decline enhances the likelihood of job loss and studies have shown that chronic unemployment is corrosive. It produces a passive resignation in individuals. It reduces social relationships, removes daily structure, deprives people of the satisfaction of contributing to society. A British study found a strong negative correlation between unemployment and mental health.
Terrorism and crime, 8 per cent
Although it has been a staple of recent election campaigns, fear of terrorism and crime, the poll suggests, do not seem rampant. Such anxiety does rise somewhat with age, as seniors feel more vulnerable, and diminishes with increased income, as the better off invest in security. You’re exponentially more likely to die in car accidents than at the hands of terrorists.
Lost love, 3 per cent
Stereotypes notwithstanding, men cited romantic breakup as their top worry more than women did. And younger people, bless them, cited it more than their elders. One university commiserated with students in a note offering advice on coping with life as a young adult. “It may be frightening and difficult to imagine life without the significant other. You may fear that you will never find love or feel happy again.”