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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Happy Trails"
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YOU'RE NOT GETTING OLDER; YOU'RE GETTING HAPPIER... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. YOU'VE HEARD THAT "WITH AGE, COMES WISDOM." BUT, WHAT ABOUT HAPPINESS? PREPARE FOR MORE-BLISSFUL YEARS, AS YOU GET OLDER--AT LEAST, ACCORDING TO THE RESULTS OF A 33-YEAR SURVEY OF AMERICA'S HAPPINESS QUOTIENT. YES, SINCE 19-72, SOCIAL SCIENTISTS HAVE BEEN KEEPING TABS ON OUR CONTENTMENT, THROUGH THE NATIONAL OPINION RESEARCH CENTER. UNDERSTANDING HAPPINESS IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTANDING QUALITY OF LIFE. UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO RESEARCHERS HAVE ANALYZED THE DATA GARNERED FROM SAMPLES OF 15-HUNDRED TO THREE-THOUSAND PEOPLE, WHO WERE ASKED: “TAKEN ALTOGETHER, HOW WOULD YOU SAY THAT THINGS ARE THESE DAYS--ARE YOU VERY HAPPY, PRETTY HAPPY, OR NOT TOO HAPPY?" AT AGE 18, RESPONDENTS SCORED BETWEEN A 15- AND A 33-PERCENT PROBABILITY OF BEING VERY HAPPY--COMPARED TO OLDER RESPONDENTS, WHO CONTINUALLY SCORED MUCH HIGHER ON THE HAPPY SCALE; BY AGE 80, A 50-PERCENT PROBABILITY. BABY-BOOMERS WERE FOUND TO BE SOME OF THE UNHAPPIEST CAMPERS--PROBABLY BECAUSE, AS SUCH A LARGE GROUP, COMPETITION LIMITED THEIR OPPORTUNITIES. THE RESEARCHERS SAY IN THIS 33-YEAR STUDY THAT FACTORS LIKE THE ECONOMY CAN ALSO MAKE CERTAIN YEARS HAPPIER THAN OTHERS--LIKE 19-95. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
