The Raelian Movement
for those who are not afraid of the future : http://www.rael.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Getting Older Leads to Emotional Stability and Happiness, Study Shows
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101028113819.htm
ScienceDaily (Oct. 27, 2010) — It's a prediction often met with worry:
In 20 years, there will be more Americans over 60 than under 15. Some
fear that will mean an aging society with an increasing number of
decrepit, impaired people and fewer youngsters to care for them while
also keeping the country's productivity going.
The concerns are valid, but a new Stanford study shows there's a
silver lining to the graying of our nation. As we grow older, we tend
to become more emotionally stable. And that translates into longer,
more productive lives that offer more benefits than problems, said
Laura Carstensen, the study's lead author.
"As people age, they're more emotionally balanced and better able to
solve highly emotional problems," said Carstensen, a psychology
professor and director of the Stanford Center on Longevity. "We may be
seeing a larger group of people who can get along with a greater
number of people. They care more and are more compassionate about
problems, and that may lead to a more stable world."
Between 1993 and 2005, Carstensen and her colleagues tracked about 180
Americans between the ages of 18 and 94. Over the years, some
participants died and others aged out of the younger groups, so
additional participants were included.
For one week every five years, the study participants carried pagers
and were required to immediately respond to a series of questions
whenever the devices buzzed. The periodic quizzes were intended to
chart how happy, satisfied and comfortable they were at any given
time.
Carstensen's study -- which was published online in the journal
Psychology and Aging -- was coauthored by postdoctoral fellows Bulent
Turan and Susanne Scheibe as well as Stanford doctoral students and
researchers at Pennsylvania State, Northwestern, the University of
Virginia and the University of California's campuses in San Francisco
and Los Angeles.
While previous research has established a correlation between aging
and happiness, Carstensen's study is the first to track the same
people over a long period of time to examine how they changed.
The undertaking was an effort to answer questions asked over and over
again by social scientists: Are seniors today who say they're happy
simply part of a socioeconomic era that predisposed them to good
cheer? Or do most people -- whether born and reared in boom times or
busts -- have it within themselves to reach their golden years with a
smile? The answer has important implications for future aging
societies.
"Our findings suggest that it doesn't matter when you were born,"
Carstensen said. "In general, people get happier as they get older."
Over the years, the older subjects reported having fewer negative
emotions and more positive ones compared with their younger days. But
even with the good outweighing the bad, older people were inclined to
report a mix of positive and negative emotions more often than younger
test subjects.
"As people get older, they're more aware of mortality," Carstensen
said. "So when they see or experience moments of wonderful things,
that often comes with the realization that life is fragile and will
come to an end. But that's a good thing. It's a signal of strong
emotional health and balance."
Carstensen (who is 56 and says she's happier now than she was a few
decades ago) attributes the change in older people to her theory of
"socio-emotional selectivity" -- a scientific way of saying that
people invest in what's most important to them when time is limited.
While teenagers and young adults experience more frustration, anxiety
and disappointment over things like test scores, career goals and
finding a soul mate, older people typically have made their peace with
life's accomplishments and failures. In other words, they have less
ambiguity to stress about.
"This all suggests that as our society is aging, we will have a
greater resource," Carstensen said. "If people become more even-keeled
as they age, older societies could be wiser and kinder societies."
So what, then, do we make of the "grumpy old man" stereotype?
"Most of the grumpy old men out there are grumpy young men who grew
old," Carstensen said. "Aging isn't going to turn someone grumpy into
someone who's happy-go-lucky. But most people will gradually feel
better as they grow older."
Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice,
diagnosis or treatment.
------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ethics" is simply a last-gasp attempt by deist conservatives and
orthodox dogmatics to keep humanity in ignorance and obscurantism,
through the well tried fermentation of fear, the fear of science and
new technologies.
There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history,
it is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations.
On the contrary, let us embrace Science and the new technologies
unfettered, for it is these which will liberate mankind from the
myth of god, and free us from our age old fears, from disease,
death and the sweat of labour.
Rael
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tell your friends who love scientific news that they can
subscribe to this list !!
They can do it by sending a blank email to:
rael-science-select-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
It's free !
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, send an email to:
rael-science-select-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To change your e-mail address, unsubscribe from the old address and subscribe from the new address (see above).
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rael-science-select/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rael-science-select/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
rael-science-select-digest@yahoogroups.com
rael-science-select-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
rael-science-select-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
0 comments:
Post a Comment