The Effect of Age on Positive and Negative Affect: A Developmental Perspective on Happiness

The effect of age on happiness, as defined by positive and negative affect, was examined in a survey of 2,727 persons of a broad age range (25-74) conducted by the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife Development. The age-affect association was examined, controlling for a host...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality and social psychology 1998-11, Vol.75 (5), p.1333-1349
Main Authors: Mroczek, Daniel K, Kolarz, Christian M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Affect
Affectivity. Emotion
Age
Age Differences
Aged
Aging - psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Demographic Characteristics
Emotions
Extraversion (Psychology)
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gender Identity
Happiness
Health
Human
Human Sex Differences
Humans
Individuals
Male
Middle Aged
Personality
Personality Development
Personality Traits
Personality. Affectivity
Polls & surveys
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychosocial Factors
Social psychology
Stress
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Summary:The effect of age on happiness, as defined by positive and negative affect, was examined in a survey of 2,727 persons of a broad age range (25-74) conducted by the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife Development. The age-affect association was examined, controlling for a host of sociodemographic, personality, and contextual influences. Among women, age was related to positive affect nonlinearly but was unrelated to negative affect. Among men, age interacted with 2 key variables in predicting affect: extraversion and marital status. These findings lend support to recent life span theories of emotion and indicate that personality, contextual, and sociodemographic variables, as well as their interactions, are all needed to fully understand the age-affect relationship.
ISSN:0022-3514
1939-1315
DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.75.5.1333