No Satisfaction, Please -- We're British

Gloomy Brits, upbeat Aussies, and the dissatisfied middle aged -- a worldwide poll provides fodder for many a stereotype.

A 130 country Gallup World Poll asked the question "how satisfied are you with your life, on a scale of nought to ten?" Here's how people in the largest English-speaking countries answered, by age:

Although the black and white chart is hard to follow, some of the data are striking:

• Australians show no sign of a midlife letdown. On the other hand, their New Zealand compatriots have a dramatic drop in midlife satisfaction, mirroring that of the Brits. What is it about Australian culture that produces such an even-keeled approach?
• The Americans and Canadians also show significant drops after age 20. Despite their geographical and cultural proximity, Canadians are more satisfied than Americans across most of their lives. They are, in fact, the most satisfied of all six countries before 35 and after 65.
• Americans are unique in having two periods of significantly declining satisfaction: from 20 through their mid-30s, and after 65.
• Ireland is an odd case, with generally increases and decreases over a generally declining level of satisfaction. But its rapid growth out of near-Third World conditions may be doing odd things to levels of satisfaction -- the oldest Irish are the least satisfied of any country, but that may be because the economic expansion passed them by.
• Excluding Ireland, the British are the least satisfied nation after 40. We've noticed that the British press is awash in "midlife crisis" references -- could that be a cause -- or effect? -- of dissatisfaction with the way things are going?

So we have more questions than answers.

The chart appears in a new National Bureau of Economic Research paper, "Income, Aging, Health and Wellbeing Around the World: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll." In it, Princeton professor Angus Deaton sought to discover whether the Gallup poll's quick and easy questions could substitute for more elaborate measures of national health. He decided they didn't, but that they do have independent value.

The declines in satisfaction for all but the Australians support the notion that midlife is particularly trying, but it would be overreaching to say that the data prove the existence of midlife crisis. A small percent -- under 10% -- of the middle aged do seem to have psychological crises brought on by their advancing age. However, most of these people also had similar crises at other stressful times in their lives. The remainder of the middle aged may experience significant life crises -- divorce, death of a family member, stalled career -- or may engage in significant reassessment of their life's path and direction. It is these normal issues of middle age that likely cause the drop in reported satisfaction from 20 onward.

The Gallup poll can not be absolutely prove that these patterns exist. There could be a "period effect" -- if the survey was taken at a particularly difficult time for 40-something employment, for instance. There could also be "cohort effects" if a generation is especially pessimistic or optimistic relative to those before or after it. But until someone measures satisfaction for a group of individuals over their entire lives, this is the best data we've got.

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Deaton's paper is available here as a pdf file.

More on the world satisfaction poll in The Economist here (subscription probably required).