The happiness curve is falling apart.
For decades, research has shown that the way people experienced happiness throughout their lives appears to be a U-shaped curve. Happiness tended to be high when they were young, then soaked in middle age, only to rise again as they grew older.
However, recent research suggests that younger adults are not as happy as they used to, and that their U-shaped curves are beginning to flatten.
This pattern is re-released in a new study, one of the collections of papers published in the journal Nature Mental Health on Wednesday. These are the first publications based on the first wave of data from global prosperity research, a collaboration between Harvard and Baylor University researchers.
Data collected primarily by Gallup in 2023 was derived from self-report surveys of over 200,000 people from over 20 countries. On average, young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 struggle with not only their happiness, but also their physical and mental health, perception of their personality, meaning in life, quality of relationships, and financial security. The researchers combined these measures to determine the degree to which each participant was “prosperous” or that he lived in a state where all aspects of life were good.
Study participants averaged relatively low measures of prosperity up to age 50, the study found. This was true in many countries, including the UK, Brazil and Australia. However, the difference between younger adults and older adults was the biggest in the United States, the researchers said.
“It's a pretty tough picture,” said Tyler J. Vanderwille, the research's lead author and director of Harvard's Human Prosperity Program. The findings raised important questions, saying, “Are we invested enough in the well-being of young people?”
Young adulthood has long been seen as carefree time, periods of endless opportunities, and almost an obligation. However, thriving research and data from other places suggest that for many, this concept is more fantastical than reality.
For example, a 2023 report from Harvard Graduate School of Education found that young adults in the United States, ages 18-25, reported twice as many as teenagers as anxiety and depression. Plus, perfectionism has skyrocketed among college students. Participation in community organizations, clubs and religious organizations is declining, and loneliness is now common among young adults, just as with older adults.
“Post-study research shows that social connection is important for happiness, and that young people spend less time with friends than they had been a decade ago,” says Laurie Santos, Yale professor of psychology and host of The Happiness Lab podcast. “And, like people of all ages, young people face a world of global problems, from climate to economic and political polarization.”
“The University of California, Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center has announced that Emiliana R. Simon Thomas is a science director at the Greater Good Science Center. We just become happy and don't end up putting fences around us. ”
In her view, the thriving data reflects “the long-term consequences of focusing on status and power” in the United States, not our place within the larger community, especially in the United States.
According to Dr. Vanderwielle, the research is difficult considering it was conducted in different economic, political and cultural settings at different times, in different economic, political and cultural settings. Although the geographical scope of the study was vast, current analysis does not include mainland China, where data collection was delayed. Furthermore, low-income countries are not represented.
Not all countries thrive with age. There were several countries, such as Poland and Tanzania. There, prosperity actually decreased as people age. Meanwhile, others, including Japan and Kenya, showed a more traditional U-shaped pattern.
However, in most Western countries, and many others, young adults do not appear to thrive. Global Prosperity Research continues to collect data annually until 2027, and tries to clarify why, Dr. Vanderwielle said.
“We know that young people are in trouble,' David G. Branchflower, a professor of economics at Dartmouth College, was not involved in thriving research, but said his own research revealed the same pattern.
Dr. Blanchflower has worked with the United Nations to help organize conferences in Dartmouth, allowing experts to share research and ideas on solutions to downward trends.
There are several theories as to why young people are troubled, he said. He doubts the problem primarily relates to what they are it's not They do it because they are busy looking at the screen.
“They're not bowling alone,” he added that he warned about the dangers of social isolation, referring to a creative book by Robert D. Putnam, published 25 years ago. “That means they're not bowling at all.”
