The ‘midlife crisis’ is too simple a story, scientists say

Happiness over a lifetime follows different courses in various parts of the world

The midlife crisis needs a rethink.

The idea that happiness in the Western world plummets around midlife before rebounding has been around since the mid-1960s. A growing body of evidence supports the theory’s demise.

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The notion of a midlife crisis is dead. Or maybe it was always bunk. Now some scientists want a postmortem for the theory.