Analysis of the subjective well-being of American adolescents reveals that they have better subjective well-being than previous generations.
There is enough to make lie the old adage “it was better before!” »: According to a study conducted by three American psychology professors *, adolescents are happier today than in the past. the results of their work has been published in the journal Wise (Social Psychological and Personality Science) at the beginning of November 2015.
“Are Americans happier, or less happy than they used to be? Asked the authors of the study. They refer in particular to previous work indicating that older people say they are happier than younger people. To answer their question, the authors measured the subjective well-being (happiness and satisfaction in life) of people who were adolescents between 1972 and 2013, using data from two large studies.
Young adults happier than those over 30
Four nationally representative samples of adolescents aged 13 to 18 and adults aged 18 to 96 were analyzed, covering more than one million people. As a result, people who have recently emerged from adolescence reported being happier and more satisfied with their lives than those in previous decades.
The authors of the study noted in particular that young graduates were more satisfied with their lives, in various fields. Young adults (aged 18 to 29), on the other hand, reported being happier as the generations were compared.
The correlation between happiness and age decreases
Thus, the researchers concluded that the established positive correlation between happiness and age had diminished, starting to disappear in the early 2010s. While adolescents aged 13 to 18 were less happy than adults in the past, with the time, this gap has narrowed. Adults over the age of 30 in the early 1990s were “considerably happier than teenagers,” the study says. But in the early 2010s, the gap in subjective well-being based on age difference was halved.
What are the reasons for this change? The authors speculated on the matter. Among the hypotheses put forward, recent cultural changes in the United States may have had an influence. Growing individualism, for example, may have impacted age groups in different ways. Or, new technologies such as social networks could have weighed in the balance… Future research should explore these many avenues.
* The authors of the study are from universities in Florida and California (San Diego State University, Florida Atlantic University, University of California)
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