研究：人在74歲時最幸福

Seventy-four-year-olds are the most contented people in the population, according to new research.

Fewer responsibilities, financial worries and more time to yourself leads to contentment previously unknown in earlier life.

According to the report from the teenage years until 40 happiness declines. It levels off until 46 and then starts to increase until peaking at 74.

Scientists from Germany and America regularly questioned 21,000 men and women how happy they were with their lives providing a scale from one to seven - seven indicated complete contentment.

Teenagers in their late teens marked themselves at around 5.5 which fell to around 5 by age 40.

At 74 happiness averaged at 5.9.

The report, published in the journal Social Indicators Research, said this could be due to older people being more appreciative.

It concluded: "Compared to younger individuals, older people tend to place a greater emphasis on emotional aspects of social interactions and are likely to remember the emotional content of their experiences."

Bringing up a family, buying a house and creating a career added to the stresses experienced by those in their twenties and thirties.

The change in happiness was apparently most pronounced amongst British respondents. German men and women reported relatively stable levels of satisfaction throughout their lives.

Dr Carlo Strenger, from Tel Aviv University, said: "If you make fruitful use of what you have discovered about yourself in the first half of your life, the second half can be the most fulfilling.

"Most people can anticipate a second life, if not a second career."

一項最新研究表明，人在74歲時最幸福。

人到了74歲時，肩上的責任變少，經濟壓力減輕，屬於自己的時間增多，由此會感到前所未有的滿足。

根據這項報告，人們的幸福感在十幾歲到四十歲這一階段逐漸下降，到46歲前趨於平穩，46歲後開始增強，到74歲時達到頂峯。

來自德國和美國的科學家對2.1萬名男性和女性進行了定期訪問，讓他們按照1到7的等級標準來衡量自己的幸福感，7代表“十分滿足”。

按照受訪者的評分，十八九歲的青年的幸福評級約爲5.5，到了40歲時跌至5左右。

到了74歲時，這一數值升至5.9。

這一在《社會指數研究》期刊上發表的報告指出，這可能是因爲年齡大的人更懂得珍惜。

該報告得出結論：“與年輕人相比，年齡較大的人更看重社會互動的情感層面，更易記住以往經歷中的情感成分。”

對於二三十歲的人來說，養家、買房和立業增加了他們的生活壓力。

這一幸福感的變化在英國受訪者中最爲顯著。德國男性和女性的幸福感在人生的整個階段相對較穩定。

來自特拉維夫大學的卡羅•斯特倫格博士說：“如果你在人生的前一階段能充分發揮利用自己的潛能，你的後半生將會十分富足。”

“（人到中年後），在事業上開闢出一片新天地或許有點困難，但大多數人可以擁有人生的第二春。”

Vocabulary:

level off: stop increasing or decreasing at a fast speed（經過急劇的漲落後）保持平穩發展

appreciative: feeling or showing that you are grateful for something 感激的；感謝的