TY - JOUR
T1 - The Effect of Birth Cohort on Well-Being
T2 - The Legacy of Economic Hard Times
AU - Sutin, Angelina R.
AU - Terracciano, Antonio
AU - Milaneschi, Yuri
AU - An, Yang
AU - Ferrucci, Luigi
AU - Zonderman, Alan B.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - In the present research, we examined the effects of age, cohort, and time of measurement on well-being across adulthood. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of two independent samples-one with more than 10,000 repeated assessments across 30 years (mean assessments per participant = 4.44, SD = 3.47) and one with nationally representative data-suggested that well-being declines with age. This decline, however, reversed when we controlled for birth cohort. That is, once we accounted for the fact that older cohorts had lower levels of well-being, all cohorts increased in well-being with age relative to their own baseline. Participants tested more recently had higher well-being, but time of measurement, unlike cohort, did not change the shape of the trajectory. Although well-being increased with age for everyone, cohorts that lived through the economic challenges of the early 20th century had lower well-being than those born during more prosperous times.
AB - In the present research, we examined the effects of age, cohort, and time of measurement on well-being across adulthood. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of two independent samples-one with more than 10,000 repeated assessments across 30 years (mean assessments per participant = 4.44, SD = 3.47) and one with nationally representative data-suggested that well-being declines with age. This decline, however, reversed when we controlled for birth cohort. That is, once we accounted for the fact that older cohorts had lower levels of well-being, all cohorts increased in well-being with age relative to their own baseline. Participants tested more recently had higher well-being, but time of measurement, unlike cohort, did not change the shape of the trajectory. Although well-being increased with age for everyone, cohorts that lived through the economic challenges of the early 20th century had lower well-being than those born during more prosperous times.
KW - aging
KW - well-being
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84875029246&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84875029246&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0956797612459658
DO - 10.1177/0956797612459658
M3 - Article
C2 - 23349030
AN - SCOPUS:84875029246
SN - 0956-7976
VL - 24
SP - 379
EP - 385
JO - Psychological Science
JF - Psychological Science
IS - 3
ER -