Studies Agree: Happiness Comes With Age

Greater happiness and better mental health may be the big payoff for aging. Exceptions abound, of course, but people generally get happier as they get older because they've learned how to tune out all the negative stuff, say researchers. A spate of new studies suggests that older people have better control of their emotions and thus avoid situations that make them stressed—in part because they know life is short, reports USA Today.

"We know that older people are increasingly aware that the time they have left in life is growing shorter," says one researcher at the American Psychological Association. "They want to make the best of it so they avoid engaging in situations that will make them unhappy." (More happiness stories.)