Studies show that as people age they don’t get as angry as they used to,
nor as quickly as they used to, because they are more likely to see the
positive aspects of life, not the negative ones. They solve emotional conflicts
more effectively and are more likely to forgive and forget (Time, 12 May 2016,
published in the 23 May issue).
The Stanford Center on Longevity conducted a study of baby boomers. Baby
boomers are getting older – aren’t we all? Baby boomers are the generation born
between 1946 to 1964. The study, called the Sightlines Project, tracked six
cohorts on a number of variables that predict length of life and quality of
life in eight multiyear studies on millions of Amercans over a period of 20
years. Instead of comparing older people to younger people the Sightlines
Project compares people today with people who were the same age as them 20
years ago.
The results showed that people who are in the 55-64 year age group now –
the baby boomers – are significantly less ‘socially engaged’ than people of their
age 20 years ago. This means that they are less likely to participate in
community or religious organizations than their counterparts were 20 years ago.
Yet other studies on age show that social engagement – meeting friends and
being part of a group or organization – has positive effects on health and
longevity. Researchers say that social isolation – i.e. not being socially
engaged – is a strong factor is declining health and a shortening of life. So
what’s happening to the baby boomers?
The boomers are less likely to be married. They don’t talk much to their
neighbours, they have weaker links to friendship groups, and they are less likely
to join groups or organizations. If boomers are married, they are even talking
less frequently to their spouses and partners than their generation of 20 years
ago. Are baby boomers isolating themselves? Is it a major concern for society?
The Sightlines Project does not give definitive answers. The Sightlines
Project generated hypotheses from the historical data. The results could be due
to the boomers working longer, and therefore their friendship groups and
organizational groups are linked to work-related interactions. Work provides
them with social connections.
Another possibility is that boomers are interacting with social groups in
different ways than 20 years ago, such as through social media, and
participating in global communities and global networks. Yet another theory is
that the boomers rejected family values years ago, and therefore social
disengagement, divorce, independence, and so on, evolved as they aged. Boomers
are the most divorced generation in history.
The findings are interesting because, as the researchers state, the boomers
professed to build a better world – and now, have they dropped the ball? The
researchers are worried that the health of the boomers will suffer if they
withdraw from society.
Laura Carstensen, the director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, adds
that if the boomers stay socially engaged, they might ‘spark a second social
revolution’ – a veritable ‘army of millions of gray-haired people, better
educated than any previous generation, armed with unprecedented financial
resources, and decades of experience, ready to solve the practical problems of
life.’
MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:-
The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends
(2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan
Curse (2009).
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