That old age brings serenity has long been a cliché, but a new study shows that people really do become calmer and less stressed as they get older.
The study, published in the journal of the American Psychological Association, Developmental Psychology, was based on a survey of 2,845 Americans between 22 and 77 years of age to see how stress levels change over a 20-year period.
It found that 39 percent of the subjects experienced stress in life, but the number of days when they did gradually decreased. In old age, they suffered 25 percent less stress than in middle age and 38 percent than in their teenage years.
Their levels of stressor reactivity also declined sharply until the age of 54 though they did not decrease markedly afterwards. Stress levels were generally higher among women than men.
Stress may be useful to people’s development during their most dynamic years, when they amass social experiences and start their own families. But after middle age, people tend to view life more positively and find ways of avoiding unnecessary stress.
Sustained stress can also lead to cardiovascular and other chronic diseases, the classic example being heart attacks from overwork or shock, so avoiding it is an essential strategy. As Confucius put it, “At 50, I knew the mandate of Heaven; at 60, my ear was attuned.”
