Being smart no guarantee to happiness in old age

LONDON (Reuters) – Being intelligent is no guarantee of a
happy old age, researchers said on Friday.

They studied 550 people born in Scotland in 1921 whose
mental ability had been tested at age 11 and again at 80 to
determine if intelligence over a lifetime was linked to
happiness.

“In older people there seems to be no relationship between
how well they do on tests of their mental ability and thinking
memory skills and how satisfied they are with their life,” said
Alan Gow, of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

The study, which is published in the British Medical
Journal, looked at how people maintain their mental ability as
they age and the impact it has on their lives in an effort to
discover the secret of successful aging.

In addition to the intelligence tests, the elderly people
completed a satisfaction with life survey in which they rated
how content they were. The researchers found no relationship
between satisfaction scores and cognitive ability.

While not linked to happiness, intelligence does have an
impact on how people function in old age, the study showed.

“With an aging population it is important to know what
causes people to age successfully. What it is about some people
that allows them to have a full and independent old age. One of
the things that allows people to live independently is
maintaining their cognitive ability,” said Gow.

The United Nations estimates that by 2050 the number of
people over 60 years old will reach 2 billion.

The scientists are continuing the study to determine what
factors in the peoples’ lives may contribute to happiness.

SOURCE: British Medical Journal July 16, 2005.