“We see that people over 40 tend to get less happy with age, until about age 80,” he said, drawing a U-shaped curve on a piece of paper. “That’s when their well-being begins to curve upward again. By the time a woman reaches 100, she is happier than a 40-year-old, even though she’s probably functioning poorly. This is due to our favorable social environment. Americans emphasize biological aging. You tend to age alone. In Japan we focus on social, environmental aging. We think about aging in the context of a family or community.”
