The Power of Social Connections for Happiness and Longevity

As humans, happiness is important to us all. There are numerous variables that dial into what generates this emotion, but does happiness mimic our growing age? Will we be as happy at 65 as we were at 25, or will we find ourselves even happier? Wes sits down with Professor of Psychology and Public Policy and the Director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, Laura Carstensen to discuss the correlation between aging and happiness.

In the episode, Laura describes the U-shape of happiness, takes us through the concept of on balance, along with the experience study that showed people feel negative emotions less frequently when they’re older. Laura and her group of colleagues developed the social, emotional, and selectivity theory that accounts for seeing rates of positive emotions staying stable and shares where time horizons come into play. Later in the episode, she stresses why close connections are magic, especially in retirement, and puts a slightly different spin on retiring sooner. To wrap up, Laura reveals variables that contribute to longevity and details on a Stanford project she and her team are working on.

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