The Changing Association Between Age and Happiness: Emerging Trend or Methodological Artifact?

The negative association between age and happiness displayed by over two decades of studies has shifted to positive in recent research. However, parallel changes in sampling techniques, measurement strategies, and use of control variables in recent research suggest that the shift may be more artifactual than actual. Data from seventeen national polls between 1948 and 1977—comparable to the research period on age and happiness—were used to examine this possibility. Findings reveal a shift from essentially no association to a weakly positive one—a shift that is not an artifact of methodological changes but also not the one indicated in the literature.