Revisiting the Paradox of Well-being: The Importance of National Context

Swift, Hannah J.; Vauclair, Christin‐Melanie; Abrams, Dominic; Bratt, Christopher; Marques, Sibila; Lima, Maria Luísa

doi:10.1093/geronb/gbu011

Cited by 72 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Although this premise was supported in this sample, other groups of adults do not display this age-related pattern. For example, one study found that older age was related to lower levels of well-being (defined as self-reported levels of happiness and satisfaction) in countries where the gross domestic product (GDP) was low (Swift et al, 2014). This finding, therefore, suggests that a worse economic climate creates a context where “the paradox of aging” is not observed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Daily events are important for age differences in mean and duration for negative affect but not positive affect.

Charles

Mogle

Urban

et al. 2016

Psychology and Aging

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Across midlife and into old age, older adults often report lower levels of negative affect and similar if not higher levels of positive affect than relatively younger adults. Researchers have offered a simple explanation for this result: age is related to reductions in stressors and increases in pleasurable activities that result in higher levels of well-being. The current study examines subjective reports of emotional experience assessed across eight days in a large sample of adults (N=2022) ranging from 35 to 84 years-old. By modeling age differences before and after adjusting for daily positive uplifts and negative stressors, this paper assesses the extent to which daily events account for age differences in positive and negative affect reports. Consistent with previous research, we found that older age is related to lower means levels and shorter duration of a negative emotional experience in a model only adjusting for gender, education and ethnicity. After adjusting for daily events, however, the linear age-related effects were no longer significant. For positive affect, adjusting for daily events did not alter age-related patterns of experiencing higher mean levels and longer positive experience duration, suggesting that other factors underlie age-related increases in positive affect.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Daily events are important for age differences in mean and duration for negative affect but not positive affect.

Charles

Mogle

Urban

et al. 2016

Psychology and Aging

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“…SOC may be related to quality of later life as structured by the allocation of public resources to older adults-a metric on which Sweden performs quite favorably. Supporting this interpretation is research by Swift et al (2014) that examined variation in happiness and life satisfaction by age across 27 countries. This research found that subjective well-being improved after age 60 only after income, marital status, and health were controlled and primarily in wealthier countries.…”

Section: Predictorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sense of coherence changes with aging over the second half of life

Silverstein

Heap

2015

Advances in Life Course Research

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“…Different age cohorts tend to utilize different experiences and resources to respond to the same historical event or condition, resulting in cohort-patterned LS trajectories. For instance, a study found that economic context affects older people more than younger people (Swift et al, 2014). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The educational, racial and gender crossovers in life satisfaction: Findings from the longitudinal Health and Retirement Study

Zhang

Braun

2017

Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics

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Objective To examine variations in life satisfaction by education, gender, and race/ethnicity over a period of eight years among middle-aged and older Americans. Methods Mixed-effects models were used to analyze five waves (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014) of longitudinal data from 16,163 participants born 1890–1953 in the U.S. Health and Retirement Study. Results Life satisfaction was higher in older adults, and the Great Recession had great impact on life satisfaction. Crossover interactions were found by gender, education, and race/ethnicity. Higher education was associated with higher life satisfaction for both genders, with stronger effects for females. Hispanics had the higher level of life satisfaction than non-Hispanic Whites and African Americans. Discussion Longitudinal evidence revealed disparities in life satisfaction. The racial/ethnic differences in the impact of education suggest that the economic and health returns of education vary by social group. Researchers should continue to examine reasons for these disparities.

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Revisiting the Paradox of Well-being: The Importance of National Context

Abstract: The findings clarify the relationship between age and SWB by demonstrating that the paradox of well-being is conditional on the economic context. Implications for individual- and country-level strategies for successful aging are discussed.

Cited by 72 publications

References 45 publications

Daily events are important for age differences in mean and duration for negative affect but not positive affect.

Daily events are important for age differences in mean and duration for negative affect but not positive affect.

Sense of coherence changes with aging over the second half of life

The educational, racial and gender crossovers in life satisfaction: Findings from the longitudinal Health and Retirement Study

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