This study employed hierarchical linear modeling to document the time course of happiness across 20 years from average ages of 66 to 86 among 717 members of the Terman Study of the Gifted. In addition, the study examined the role of positive expectancies about aging, assessed at an average age of 61, in enhancing happiness in aging. The results showed a small decline in happiness over time. Higher age was associated with less happiness at baseline and with a greater decline in happiness. At the same time, the general level of happiness in this sample was moderately high, with a large majority of respondents relatively happy into later aging. Moreover, positive expectancies about aging, assessed at an average age of 61, predicted greater happiness at ages 70, 75, and 80. These results held controlling for prior happiness, as well as for prior self-rated health and income.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abdel-KhalekA. (2006). Measuring happiness with a single-item scale. Social Behavior and Personality, 34, 139–150.
2.
BaltesP. B., & BaltesM. M. (1990). Psychological perspectives on successful aging: The model of selective optimization with compensation. In BaltesP. B. & BaltesM. M. (Eds.), Successful aging: Perspectives from the behavioral sciences (pp. 1–34). (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
3.
BanduraA. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191–215.
4.
BanduraA. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
5.
BanduraA. (2006). Toward a psychology of human agency. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1, 164–180.
6.
BarrickA. L.HutchinsonR. L., & DeckersL. H. (1989). Age effects on positive and negative affect: Support for a two-factor theory. Psychology and Aging, 7, 158–163.
7.
BorkanJ. M., & QuirkM. (1992). Expectations and outcomes after hip fracture in the elderly. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 34, 339–350.
8.
BradburnN. (1969). The structure of psychological well-being. Chicago, IL: Aldine.
9.
BrandtstadterJ., & GreveW. (1994). The aging self: Stabilizing and protective processes. Developmental Review, 14, 52–80.
10.
CarstensenL. L.IsaacowitzD. M., & Turk-CharlesS. (1999). Taking time seriously: A theory of socioemotional selectivity. American Psychologist, 54, 165–181.
11.
CharlesS. T.ReynoldsC. A., & GatzM. (2001). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 136–151.
12.
CostaP. T.ZondermanA. B.McCraeR. R., & Cormoni-HuntleyJ. (1987). Longitudinal analyses of psychological well-being in a national sample: Stability of means levels. Journal of Gerontology, 42, 50–55.
13.
DienerE., & DienerC. (1996). Most people are happy. Psychological Science, 7, 181–185.
14.
DienerE., & SuhM. E. (1998). Subjective well-being and age: An international analysis. In SchaieK. W. & LawtonM. P. (Eds.),Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics: Focus on Emotion and Adult Development, 17, 304–324.
15.
HolahanC. K. (1998). Change in Psychosocial functioning and health from age 70 to age 80: Findings from the Terman Sample. Journal of Mental Health and Aging, 4, 335–345.
16.
HolahanC. K.HolahanC. J., & WonacottN. L. (2001). Psychological well-being at age 80: Health-related and psychosocial factors. Journal of Mental Health and Aging, 7, 1–17.
17.
HolahanC. K., & SearsR. R. (1995). The gifted group in later maturity. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
18.
IdlerE. L., & KaslS. (1991). Health perceptions and survival: Do global evaluations of health status really predict mortality?Journal of Gerontology, 56, 55–65.
19.
IsaacowitzD. M., & SeligmanM. E. P. (2003). Cognitive styles and well-being in adulthood and old age. In BornsteinM. H.DavidsonL.KeyesC. L. M., and MooreK. A. (Eds.), Well-being: Positive development across the life course (pp. 449–475). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
20.
LaRueA.BankL.JarvikL., & HetlandM. (1979). Health in old age: How do physicians' ratings and self-ratings compare?Journal of Gerontology, 34, 687–691.
21.
LawtonM. P.KlebanM. H., & DeanJ. (1993). Affect and age: Cross-sectional comparisons of structure and prevalence. Psychology and Aging, 8, 165–175.
22.
LeedhamB.MeyerowitzB. E.MuirheadJ., & FristW. H. (1995). Positive expectations predict health after heart transplantation. Health Psychology, 14, 74–79.
23.
LevyB. R.SladeM. D., & KaslS. (2002. Longitudinal benefits of positive self-perceptions of aging on functional health. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 57B, P409–P417.
24.
LucasR. W., & GohmC. L. (2000). Age an sex differences in subjective well-being across cultures. In DienerE. and SuhE. M. (Eds.), Culture and subjective well-being (pp. 291–317). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
25.
LyubomirskyS.KingL., & DienerE. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success?Psychological Bulletin, 131, 803–855.
26.
MaddoxJ. E. (2002). Self-efficacy: The power of believing you can. In SnyderC. R. and LopezS. J. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 277–287). New York: Oxford University Press.
27.
MosseyJ. M. (1995). Importance of self-perceptions for health status among older persons. In GatzM. (Ed.), Emerging issues in mental health and aging (pp. 124–162). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
28.
MroczekD. K., & KolarzC. M. (1998). The effect of age on positive and negative affect: A developmental perspective on happiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 1333–1349.
29.
NeugartenB. L. (1968). Adult personality: Toward a psychology of the life cycle. In NeugartenB. L. (Ed.), Middle age and aging: A reader in social psychology (pp. 137–147). Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
30.
RaudenbushS. W., & BrykA. S. (2002). HLM 5: Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
31.
RaudenbushS. W.BrykA. S.CheongY. F., & CongdonR. T.Jr. (2001). HLM 5: Hierarchical linear and nonlinear modeling. Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International.
32.
RoweJ. W., & KahnR. L. (1998). Successful aging. New York: Pantheon.
33.
RyffC. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069–1081.
34.
SarkisianC. A.HaysR. B., & MangioneC. M. (2002). Do older adults expect to age successfully? The association between expectations regarding aging and beliefs regarding healthcare seeking among older adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 50, 1837–1843.
35.
SarkisianC. A.Lee-HendersonM. H., & MangioneC. M. (2003). Do depressed older adults who attribute depression to “old age” believe it is important to seek care?Journal of General Internal Medicine, 18, 1001–1005.
36.
SarkisianC. A.ProshaskaT. R.WongM. D.HirschS., & MangioneC. M. (2005). The relationship between expectations for aging and physical activity among older adults. Journal of Internal Medicine, 20, 911–915.
37.
ScheierM. F., & CarverC. S. (1993). On the power of positive thinking: The benefits of being optimistic. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2, 26–30.
38.
ScheierM. F., & CarverC. S. (2003). Self-regulatory processes and responses to health threats: Effects of optimism on well-being. In SulsJ. and WallstonK. A. (Eds.), Social psychological foundations of health and illness (pp. 395–428). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
39.
SeligmanM. E. P. (2003). Foreword: The past and future of positive psychology. In KeyesC. L. M. and HaidtJ. (Eds.), Flourishing: Positive psychology and the life well-lived (pp. xi–xx). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
40.
SmithJ., & BaltesP. B. (1993). Differential psychological aging: Profiles of the old and very old. Ageing and Society, 13, 551–587.
41.
SmithJ.FleesonW.GeiselmannB.SetterstenR.A., & KunzmanU. (1999). Sources of well-being in very old age. In BaltesP. B. and MayerK. U. (Eds.), The Berlin aging study: Aging from 70 to 100 (pp. 450–471). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
42.
StaceyC. A., & GatzM. (1991). Cross-sectional age differences and longitudinal change on the Bradburn Affect Balance Scale. Journal of Gerontology, Psychological Sciences, 46, P76–P78.
43.
VauxA., & MeddinJ. (1987). Positive and negative life change and positive and negative affect among the rural elderly. Journal of Community Psychology, 15, 447–458.
44.
WilliamsonG. M. (2002). Aging well: Outlook for the 21st century. In SnyderC. R. and LopezS. J. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 676–686). New York: Oxford University Press.
