You Get Better With Age

Just like a fine wine, you get better as you age. With every new year. you grow wiser, more emotionally stable, and more comfortable in your own skin. In short, aging increases your well being and new research proves this.

Last month, Florida State University’s Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy released a study about emotional well being in younger women and older women. After using surveys from 3,000 people, the researchers found that younger women had greater anxiety about aging, which resulted in lower emotional well-being. Middle-aged and older women, on the other hand, had higher emotional well-beings and this was mainly due to the fact that these women maintained youthful perceptions of themselves.

The researchers from this study decided to focus on women because “their decline in status as they age is steeper than men’s,” and it was believed that this inequality could lead to more consequences in terms of women’s emotional well-being. However, other research shows that both men and women can get better with age.

In 2012, a study about aging and emotional experiences was published in Psychology and Aging, the American Psychological Association journal. In the study, the researchers studied over 180 participants (ranging from 18 years old and 94 years old). The results revealed that from early adulthood to old age our emotional well being improves. The study also found that no matter a person’s gender, ethnicity, or age, experiencing positive emotions may improve and extend a person’s life.

Want to increase your emotional well-being as you age? Maintaining a youthful identity appears to be the solution.

Check out the two tips listed below for further advice.

• Find your inner child. Sometimes life gets too serious. Taking a playful approach to life can make all the difference. Start a creative project or play a board game with the grand kids—it can definitely make a difference. For more tips, check out this article.

• Perform an emotional check-up. Everyone knows that you should get a physical check-up every year, but a lot of people overlook their emotional health. Evaluating how your relationships, finances, and job responsibilities impact your emotional health is a part of the check-up process. For more information, check out this article.