The effect of birth cohort on well-being: the legacy of economic hard times

Psychol Sci. 2013 Mar 1;24(3):379-85. doi: 10.1177/0956797612459658. Epub 2013 Jan 24.

Abstract

In the present research, we examined the effects of age, cohort, and time of measurement on well-being across adulthood. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of two independent samples-one with more than 10,000 repeated assessments across 30 years (mean assessments per participant = 4.44, SD = 3.47) and one with nationally representative data-suggested that well-being declines with age. This decline, however, reversed when we controlled for birth cohort. That is, once we accounted for the fact that older cohorts had lower levels of well-being, all cohorts increased in well-being with age relative to their own baseline. Participants tested more recently had higher well-being, but time of measurement, unlike cohort, did not change the shape of the trajectory. Although well-being increased with age for everyone, cohorts that lived through the economic challenges of the early 20th century had lower well-being than those born during more prosperous times.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Aging / physiology
  • Aging / psychology
  • Cohort Effect*
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Economics / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Human Development / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Personal Satisfaction*
  • Time Factors
  • Young Adult