WSJ: ‘Despite COVID-19, Older People Are Still Happier’

This column’s publication date falls on a birthday for Antelope Valley Press Editor Jennifer Garcia and me. I’m the old-timer, topping 95 and Jennifer is much younger, having been born in the 1970s.

According to a piece in Wall Street Journal over the weekend, Alison Gopnik wrote that the elderly are happier than younger people even in time of the horrifying pandemic.

She wrote: “As we get older we get slower, creakier and stiffer — and a lot happier. This might seem surprising, but it’s one of the most robust results in psychology and it’s true regardless of income, class or culture. In our 70s and 80s, we are happier than when we were strong and beautiful 20-year-olds.

I used to believe that my 17th year was the happiest.

Gopnik explained why her statement is true: “We may get better at avoiding stressful situations — we figure out how to dodge that tense work meeting or family squabble. Or there may be something about aging that makes it easier to tolerate stress, even when we can’t avoid it.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic is a test case for this principle. It’s a terrible threat that is stressful for everyone, but it’s especially dangerous for older people, who are far more likely to die from the disease. Does the association between aging and happiness still hold?” she asked.

“Apparently the answer is yes. According to a new study by Laura Carstensen and colleagues at Stanford University, older people are happier even during the pandemic.”

Here are more points in support of the happiness contention:

“Think back to the first COVID surge in North America last April. The full awfulness of the plague had become apparent and the uncertainty just made it scarier.

“We were all anxiously washing our groceries and trying to stay home.

“That month, the researchers surveyed a representative sample of 974 people from 18 to 74 years old, asking how often and how intensely they had felt 29 different positive and negative emotions in the past week. How often had they been calm or peaceful, concerned or anxious? The participants also reported how much they felt personally at risk from the virus and how risky they thought it was for people in general.

“Older people rationally and accurately said that they were more at risk than younger ones. But surprisingly, they also reported experiences more positive emotions and few negative ones than younger people did.

“Even when the researchers controlled for other factors, like income and personality, older people were still happier.

“In particular, they were more calm, quiet and appreciative, and less concerned and anxious.”

Gopnik wrote that “I think those later years may be adapted to allow us to care and teach. Instead of striving to get mates and resources and a place in the pecking order, older people can focus on helping the next generation.

“We take care of others and pass on our resources, skills and knowledge, instead of working for our success. As a result, we may be released from the intense emotions and motivations that drive us in our earlier lives. Age grants us an equanimity that even COVID-19 can’t entirely conquer.”

After reading her article, I feel happier than when I was a 17-year-old senior in high school.