Older Americans have sense of peace, calm

AUSTIN, Texas, May 20 (UPI) -- Knees may creak and climbing stairs may be harder, but aging brings a sense of peace and calm, U.S. researchers say.

A study by the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin says starting at about age 60, participants reported more feelings of ease and contentment than their younger counterparts.

Catherine Ross and John Mirowsky say previous research on emotions associated with aging focused on negative emotions, such as depression.

However, the findings reveal aging is associated with more positive than negative emotions, and more passive than active emotions, Ross says.

The researchers examined 1,450 responses from the 1996 U.S. General Social Survey of English-speaking U.S. adults who were 56 percent female, 44 percent male, 81 percent white, 14 percent African-American and 5 percent other races.

"The passive/positive combination reveals that contentment, calm and ease are some of the most common emotions people feel as they age," Ross said in a statement. "Emotions that are both active and negative, such as anxiety and anger, are especially unlikely among the elderly."

The findings are published in the Social Science and Medicine.