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The U Shape of Happiness: A Response
David G Blanchflower1,2,3,4,5, Carol L Graham6,7,8
1Department of Economics, Dartmouth College.
Summary
Happiness shows a U-shaped curve across the lifespan, with a notable dip in midlife. This well-being nadir, observed in millions of individuals, is significant and warrants further research into its causes.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Gerontology
Background:
- The "U-shape of happiness" hypothesis suggests well-being declines in midlife before rising in later life.
- A recent review questioned the robustness and generalizability of this U-shaped happiness curve.
- This critique overlooked substantial evidence supporting the midlife dip in well-being.
Purpose of the Study:
- To re-evaluate the evidence for the U-shape of happiness across the life course.
- To present new empirical data on midlife well-being nadirs.
- To address the omissions and misclassifications in a recent literature review.
Main Methods:
- Re-analysis of 33 articles from a previous literature review, identifying misclassifications.
- Systematic literature search identifying 353 additional articles on the U-shape of happiness.
- Analysis of 8.5 million individual observations from US and European nationally representative surveys.
Main Results:
- A significant majority of previously reviewed articles (25/33) actually support the U-shape hypothesis.
- An additional 353 articles, including 329 peer-reviewed studies, were identified that support the U-shape.
- Empirical data reveal a midlife nadir in well-being around the mid-40s, comparable to a substantial portion of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact.
Conclusions:
- The U-shape of happiness, particularly the midlife dip, is robust and generalizable.
- Previous critiques underestimated the existing evidence base for this phenomenon.
- The midlife well-being nadir is a significant life course event with substantial implications.
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