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Spectrum Staff
Aging
brings a sense of peace and calm, according to a new study from the
Population Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin.
Starting at about age 60, participants reported more feelings of
ease and contentment than their younger counterparts.
Catherine Ross and John Mirowsky, professors of sociology, have published the
findings in “Age and the Balance of Emotions” in the May 19 issue
of Social Science and Medicine. The research was funded in part by the National
Institute on Aging.
The findings reveal that aging is associated with more positive than negative
emotions and more passive than active emotions, Ross said.
Previous research on emotions associated with aging focused on negative emotions,
such as depression. However a second dimension underlying emotion is an active
versus passive dimension, which is less studied but may be important in explaining
how emotions shift as people age, according to the researchers.
“The passive/positive combination reveals that contentment, calm and ease
are some of the most common emotions people feel as they age,” Ross said. “Emotions
that are both active and negative, such as anxiety and anger, are especially
unlikely among the elderly.”
The researchers grouped the emotions in four categories: active, passive, positive
and negative.
Secondary findings reveal that women had more negative than positive emotions
and more passive than active emotions than men. Also, participants with higher
income and education levels had significantly more positive emotions than those
with lower income and education levels
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