The traditional model of happiness is changing.
In collective conscience, happiness is associated with youth. “”The child walks happy, without thinking about the way; He believes it infinite, not seeing the end of it“Written Alfred de Musset or”Nothing is too difficult for youth“, Said the famous philosopher Socrates there are millennia. However, the idea that we are happier when you are young today seems obsolete and the traditional model of happiness is changing, say American researchers.
The curve of happiness which seemed to follow “a form of U” – concretely the happiness reaches its highest level during the twenties, followed by a progressive decline at the ripe age (~ 40 years), then an increase after 60 years – disappeared and is “replaced by a crisis of well-being among young people“, Consider the researchers in a document commanded by the United Nations Organization (UN) and published by the National Bureau of Economic Research in the United States. The level of life satisfaction and happiness among young adults, especially among young women, seems to have collapsed for ten years and even more since 2020, the year of the start of the Cavid-19 pandemic.
Among the potential causes of this discomfort, researchers cite the growth of the Internet, smartphones and social networks, but also the decline of social interactions. “”Young people have become isolated (…) They go out less, no longer play with their friends, no longer interact with others and have no more sex as before. They are deeply distraught and in difficulty“, Reports David Blanchflower, the main author of the study. Other studies also point out the instability of employment and the climate crisis. What is commonly called” the crisis of the quarantine “would be experienced today, with a peak of” despair “and poor mental health at the age of 20 (see the graph on the right). Then, life satisfaction seems to increase with age until the age of 70.
“”I do not think there is the slightest doubt that we are faced with an absolute global crisis. The question is now to know what we can do to remedy it“, Continues the researcher. He should continue to explore the reasons for growing misfortune and the declining mental health of young adults.
