Study Finds Ages When People Are Happiest

10/3/23, 9:29 PM Study Finds Ages When People Are Happiest | Engoo Daily News
Daily News / Daily News
Study Finds Ages When People Are

Happiest
October 03, 2023
7 Advanced Health
Exercise 1
Vocabulary
Repeat each word, definition, and example sentence after your tutor.
satisfy /ˈsætɪsfaɪ/ to meet or fulfill a need, desire, demand, etc.

Verb
I'm not completely satisfied with my exam results.
psychology /saɪˈkɑːlədʒiː/
Noun the study of the mind and how it affects behavior
I want to study psychology because I've always been

interested in people's feelings and emotions.
emotion /ɪˈmoʊʃən/
Noun something that one feels, such as love, fear, anger, etc.
I felt a rush of emotions as I looked through the photo

album.
physical /ˈfɪzɪkəl/ relating to the body
https://engoo.com/app/daily-news/article/study-finds-ages-when-people-are-happiest/tLqx4lyREe6Pd3cb7xz6bg 1/5
Adjective A poor diet and a lack of physical exercise increase your

risk of developing diabetes.
puberty /ˈpjuːbərti/
Noun the stage of physical development when a child changes into an
adult
Going through puberty was tough for me because I had

a lot of acne.
interaction /ˌɪntərˈækʃən/
Noun the act of communicating or being involved with someone or
something
I have very little interaction with people outside my

team.
Exercise 2
Article
Read the article aloud on your own or repeat each paragraph after your tutor.
Study Finds Ages When People Are Happiest
Do you ever think you were happiest as a child? A new study has found this
may be true — but while you may be less cheerful as you get older, you may
also be more satisfied with life.
Researchers in Germany and Switzerland looked at data from previous

studies with a total of over 460,000 participants. They were interested in how
satisfied people said they were with their lives, and also in something called
"positive affect" and "negative affect."
Positive affect is a term used in psychology to talk about how people feel
cheerful and happy emotions, while negative affect is used for feelings like
anger, fear and sadness.
It was found that while people tended to be most cheerful as children, they
became more satisfied with their lives as they got older — until they got very
old, at which point they became less satisfied and less happy too.
From the data, the researchers found that life satisfaction decreased from
age 9 to 16, then increased a little until age 70, and decreased again until age
96 — the oldest age for which data was available.
But positive affect — or cheerfulness — decreased almost continuously from

age 9 to age 94.
Negative affect went up and down between ages 9 and 22, but then
decreased until age 60. After that, it increased again until age 87.
The researchers noted that changes in life satisfaction tended to be smaller

than changes in positive and negative affect.
The decrease in life satisfaction between ages 9 and 16 were probably due to
the physical and social changes of puberty, the researchers said.
Meanwhile, the decrease in satisfaction and increase in negative affect

among the very old were likely connected to the health problems of old age,
as well as decreasing social interaction.
The study authors wrote that their results show that programs to help people
feel happier later in life could be useful.
Exercise 3
Discussion
Have a discussion based on the following questions.
1. What are your thoughts on the findings of this study?
2. Do you think you were happiest as a child?
3. Do you find it surprising that life satisfaction decreases from age 9 to 16?
4. Why do you think cheerfulness decreases from age 9 onwards?
5. What do you think are the best things about getting older?
Exercise 4
Further Discussion
Have a discussion based on the following questions.
1. How do you define happiness?
2. What's the happiest you've ever been?
3. Who would you say are the happiest people you know?
4. What are your happiest childhood memories?
5. Happiness is the highest form of health. — Dalai Lama. What are your
thoughts on this statement?
Source
This lesson is based on an article by Mike Kanert.
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10/3/23, 9:29 PM Study Finds Ages When People Are Happiest | Engoo Daily News

Daily News / Daily News

Study Finds Ages When People Are

satisfy /ˈsætɪsfaɪ/ to meet or fulfill a need, desire, demand, etc.

I want to study psychology because I've always been

I felt a rush of emotions as I looked through the photo

physical /ˈfɪzɪkəl/ relating to the body

Adjective A poor diet and a lack of physical exercise increase your

Going through puberty was tough for me because I had

I have very little interaction with people outside my

Study Finds Ages When People Are Happiest

Researchers in Germany and Switzerland looked at data from previous

anger, fear and sadness.

But positive affect — or cheerfulness — decreased almost continuously from

The researchers noted that changes in life satisfaction tended to be smaller

Meanwhile, the decrease in satisfaction and increase in negative affect

Have a discussion based on the following questions.

1. What are your thoughts on the findings of this study?

2. Do you think you were happiest as a child?

4. Why do you think cheerfulness decreases from age 9 onwards?

Have a discussion based on the following questions.

1. How do you define happiness?

2. What's the happiest you've ever been?

4. What are your happiest childhood memories?

Study Shows Elephants Being Sociable Helps Study: Daytime Naps

© 1998 - 2023. No duplication without prior permission. All Rights Reserved.

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