Cohort variation in happiness: some hypotheses and exploratory analyses

Abstract

Research on historical and age differences in well-being suggests that cohort factors explain at least part of the variation in adults' reports of well-being. Theoretical arguments suggest that it is the bases of people's evaluations of their well-being that reflect the characteristic socializing influences of their cohort. Portraits of two cohorts of older adults are drawn from historical and sociological sources and hypotheses about cohort-specific values are tested with data collected by Veroff and his colleagues in 1957 and 1976. Findings do not support the idea that happiness among the adults who produced the post-World War II baby boom is uniquely linked to concerns with marriage and children. Results do provide partial support for the view that adults born before 1900 are distinctive from other cohorts in that their happiness levels are more closely linked with survival needs and more firmly wedded to Protestant ethic values.