What is So Good About Growing Old
Forget about senior moments. The great news is that researchers are discovering some surprising advantages of aging
- By Helen Fields
- Smithsonian magazine, July-August 2012, Subscribe
Even as certain mental skills decline with age—what was that guy’s name again?—scientists are finding the mind gets sharper at a number of vitally important abilities. In a University of Illinois study, older air traffic controllers excelled at their cognitively taxing jobs, despite some losses in short-term memory and visual spatial processing. How so? They were expert at navigating, juggling multiple aircraft simultaneously and avoiding collisions.
People also learn how to deal with social conflicts more effectively. For a 2010 study, researchers at the University of Michigan presented “Dear Abby” letters to 200 people and asked what advice they would give. Subjects in their 60s were better than younger ones at imagining different points of view, thinking of multiple resolutions and suggesting compromises.
It turns out that managing emotions is a skill in itself, one that takes many of us decades to master. For a study published this year, German researchers had people play a gambling game meant to induce regret. Unlike 20-somethings, those in their 60s didn’t agonize over losing, and they were less likely to try to redeem their loss by later taking big risks.
These social skills may bring huge benefits. In 2010, researchers at Stony Brook University analyzed a telephone survey of hundreds of thousands of Americans and found that people over 50 were happier overall, with anger declining steadily from the 20s through the 70s and stress falling off a cliff in the 50s.
This may be news to people who equate being old with being sad and alone, but it fits with a body of work by Laura Carstensen, a psychologist at Stanford. She led a study that followed people ages 18 to 94 for a decade and found that they got happier and their emotions bounced around less. Such studies reveal that negative emotions such as sadness, anger and fear become less pronounced than in our drama-filled younger years.
Cornell sociologist Karl Pillemer and co-workers interviewed about 1,200 older people for the book 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans. “Many people said something along these lines: ‘I wish I’d learned to enjoy life on a daily basis and enjoy the moment when I was in my 30s instead of my 60s,’” he says. Elderly interviewees are likely to “describe the last five or ten years as the happiest years of their lives.”
“We have a seriously negative stereotype of the 70s and beyond,” says Pillemer, “and that stereotype is typically incorrect.”
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Comments (13)
The only good thing there is about the aging process is the knowledge that it is also happening to your enemies.
Posted by Maury Hopson on September 17,2012 | 10:44 PM
Since she is mentioned above I'd like to add that Laura Carstensen's book "Long Bright Future" talks about the fact that by 2015, the number of people over 65 will surpass the number of children under 15, and living to 100 will be commonplace. She celebrates the opportunities that increased longevity offers for work, family, and social relationships for all of life’s stages.
Posted by Sue Purdy Pelosi on August 25,2012 | 09:50 PM
Am glad to say that after ten years illness and at age 57 am finally launching an international social enterprise (B-corp) to resource creativity and social innovation. It's been a huge challenge - was just this evening weeping to a male friend about the alienation of older women - but the keys to our buildings will soon be in our hands and money in the bank for further development. Most of our team are fifty, sixty plus and nearly all leads are women - every one chosen for intelligence, drive and creativity - with a very few promising leaders in their later twenties. One of our key commitments is to resource older creatives - in particular older women musicians and other performing artists have a vital role to play - so do get in touch if this excites you too.
Posted by Kate Inrei Woodhouse on July 7,2012 | 09:19 PM
Gosh, now EVERYBODY is going to want to be old! And, loss of memory is not so bad because when you see a movie for the second (or fifth) time it seems brand new. Great article.
Posted by Martha on July 3,2012 | 10:02 AM
Now people will understand why women love being married to older men! They are calmer and wiser.
Posted by Donna on June 28,2012 | 11:26 AM
Longfellow said it best. "For age is opportunity no less Than youth itself, though in another dress, And as the evening twilight fades away The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day."
Posted by m peterman on June 28,2012 | 10:46 AM
The greatest blessing of old age is perspective. What is truly important becomes crystal clear.
Posted by PacRim Jim on June 26,2012 | 07:32 PM
The best thing about growing older is that one is not dead yet!
Posted by RowBear St Germain on June 26,2012 | 01:57 PM
I quite agree with ths article
Posted by Donna Baldinger on June 26,2012 | 07:24 AM
I agree with the article. I am enjoying myself more in my old age than I did in my youth. I don't take things seriously. I laugh more. I do as I please without worrying about what people would say. I'm alone, widowed for several years, but I learned to cope, take care of myself and I like my life.
Posted by Sylvia Pomerantz on June 25,2012 | 03:38 PM
Someone worked pretty hard to rationalize this peculiar point of view. Sure, you can benefit from experience. That is frequently why people are paid more after learning a job. But, growing old, with its aches and pains, loss of acuity, flexibility and capacity, still sucks. It is nice to see a national magazine pump up the few advantages.
Posted by Robert Greene on June 25,2012 | 02:05 PM
Pity employers do not value anyone over 50.
Posted by Craig on June 24,2012 | 07:37 PM
after living through it I do believe life without hormones would be so much more productive and less erratic. Why would anyone want to extend their influence?
Posted by m kleier on June 24,2012 | 10:29 AM