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Adulthood and Aging MODULE 12 205happiness than sadness.59,60 Middle-aged women with children at home report lower levels of happiness and less marital satisfaction than those with an empty nest. If their relationship with the children who are moving out is positive and close, parents are likely to experience a %u201cpostlaunch honeymoon.%u201d61A Lifetime of Well-BeingAging often brings a shrinking income, a deteriorating body, less energy, and the loss of friends and family to death. Even so, most retired adults still have a strong sense of well-being.In one study, researchers collected interview data from almost 170,000 people in 16 nations and found that older people are every bit as happy and satisfied with life as younger folks are62 (Figure 12.4). And in contrast to the increase in depression rates among younger adults that occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, older adults showed signs of emotional resilience.63%u201365 We can all take comfort in these findings as we look forward to our own aging future. (See Psychology in the Real World: Ageism.)We also tend to mellow as we age.66 Emotions are less extreme and more enduring later in life. Older people tend to experience life more evenly%u2014the good things don%u2019t make them overly happy, and the bad things don%u2019t drag them down. An older adult is less likely to feel on top of the world but also less likely to feel depressed. This middle way appears to offer contentment, even if intense joy is rare.As an older adult, well-being may also depend on how you reflect on your past. Will you be satisfied with what you%u2019ve done, or will you look back with regret? Interestingly, most of the regrets retirees express run along the lines of %u201cI wish I had done that bike ride across Iowa,%u201d I wish I%u2019d kept in touch better with my friends,%u201d or %u201cI should have told my mother more often that I loved her.%u201d67 Most regrets seem to focus on things the person didn%u2019t do rather than on mistakes made while actively pursuing a goal.686080%40200Percentage %u201csatisfied%u201dwith life as a whole15%u201324Age group25%u201334 35%u201344 45%u201354 55%u201364 65+FIGURE 12.4 Satisfaction Remains HighThis multinational survey shows that age does not matter much when it comes to being satisfied with your life. (Data from Inglehart, 1990.)Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock%u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Do not distribute.