In a dark wood: an exploration of the midlife low in human wellbeing and a research agenda

Alan Piper

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: The midlife low is a broader concept than the midlife crisis and seems to be intimately connected to being human (and perhaps even to being animal). This article briefly discusses literature which finds midlife lows in survey data. In addition, reasons why midlife lows exist are put forward and discussed. The evidence provided is interdisciplinary, often presented in literature from the field of psychotherapy which has, at times, heavily concerned itself with the topic. Given that the misery of midlife can be substantial, efforts to understand the phenomenon and how it might be mitigated seem to be worthwhile. In pursuit of this aim, the article concludes with some research questions which emerge from the previous discussion and are testable with current datasets, but currently remain unresolved.

Keywords: middle age; midlife; lifespan development; ageing; wellbeing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-07-31
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:121612

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