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The Best Years of Your Life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Herbert C. Northcott
Herbert C. Northcott
Affiliation:
University of Alberta
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Abstract

Three contrasting themes run through the literature on aging regarding the question of which years constitute the best period of a person's life. The themes are: 1) youth is best, 2) middle age is best, and 3) old age has its advantages. This study reports a 1979 representative and cross-sectional survey of 440 Edmontonians. Respondents were asked questions about the levels of satisfaction arising from various aspects of life as well as the amount of pressure experienced from these various life domains. The older years appear to be a period of relatively low pressure and relatively high satisfaction, although each age has advantages and disadvantages.

Résumé

Les réponses apportées jusqu'ici à la question de savoir quelles années constituent la plus belle époque de la vie s'organisent autour de trois thèmes: 1° les années de jeunesse sont les plus belles, 2° l'âge mûr est le plus beau, 3° la vieillesse a ses avantages. La présente étude fait état d'une enquête menée en 1979 auprès de 440 Edmontonais constituant un échantillonnage représentatif en coup transversale. Les questions posées portaient sur les degrés de satisfaction et de tension associés à divers aspects de la vie. Bien que chaque âge ait ses avantages et ses inconvénients, la vieillesse se présente comme une époque de tensions relativement faibles et de satisfactions relativement élevées.

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 1 , Issue 3-4 , December 1982 , pp. 72 - 78
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1982

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