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Old Age is Not Downhill: the Satisfactions and Well‐Being of Older Australians
Author(s) -
Headey Bruce
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-6612.1999.tb00887.x
Subject(s) - life satisfaction , anxiety , depression (economics) , quality of life (healthcare) , gerontology , well being , psychology , demography , subjective well being , medicine , psychiatry , sociology , happiness , social psychology , economics , psychotherapist , macroeconomics
. It is widely believed that old age is a period of psychological and emotional decline. This paper reviews sample survey evidence for the 1980s and the 1990s which appears to show that Australians aged over 60 have about the same levels of life satisfaction and lower levels of anxiety and depression than adults under 60. Fewer major life events, whether favourable or adverse, happen to older people compared to younger. Life becomes less turbulent; there are fewer emotional highs and lows. It is argued that these results cannot be explained away as due to either resignation in old age or selective survival. The survey sources are the Victorian Quality of Life Panel Survey 1981–89 (n=942) and the International Social Science Surveys/Australia 1996–97 (n=2033).