As the years stack up and your youthful days slip into the distance, emotions about getting older can start to bubble up. It’s quite natural to fear age, right?
However, recent research from my colleague and I, published in the journal Intelligence, uncovers a silver lining: many individuals actually experience a significant boost in overall psychological health between the ages of 55 and 60!
Understanding this phenomenon sheds light on why folks in this age bracket often excel in problem-solving, critical thinking, and leadership within various careers.
Not All Peaks Are the Same
There’s loads of research suggesting that physical performance typically tops out in one’s mid-twenties to early thirties.
At the same time, studies show that our intellectual capabilities—like reasoning, memory, and quick thinking—start to dwindle around our mid-twenties and beyond.
This translates to real life; athletes usually peak before 30, mathematicians often achieve their most significant work by their mid-thirties, while grandmasters in chess seldom see their best years after age 40.
But if we dive deeper than just raw speed of thought, a whole new narrative unfolds.
Reasoning vs. Emotional Maturity
Our research zoomed in on different psychological traits—not just those linked with reasoning—that can be easily measured and reflect long-lasting traits rather than mere temporary moods.
We pinpointed 16 psychological attributes meeting this criteria.
These traits also cover vital cognitive skills like reasoning, memory retention, information processing speed, knowledge, and emotional savvy. Alongside these, we included the “big five” personality traits: extraversion, emotional stability, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and agreeableness.
By examining extensive existing studies that had assessed these dimensions, we could standardize the data and observe how each trait matures over time.
Late Bloomer Traits
Interestingly, several of the traits we analyzed hit their peak much later in life. For instance, conscientiousness tends to hit its highest point around age 65, while emotional stability peaks around age 75.
Even less talked about qualities, such as moral reasoning, also seem to improve in advanced age. The ability to resist cognitive biases—those mental shortcuts that might lead to bad choices—may keep getting better well into your 70s and 80s!
Once we merged the age trends of these 16 traits into a combined index, a fascinating pattern emerged: the highest overall mental functioning happens between ages 55 and 60, followed by a slow decline starting around age 65. This decline intensifies after age 75, indicating that cognitive functions might drop faster once they start reducing.
Breaking Age Stereotypes
These insights could help explain why many challenging roles in leadership—whether in business, politics, or other realms—tend to be filled by individuals in their fifties or early sixties. Sure, some skills might fade with age, but countless important traits strengthen. When combined, these factors contribute to improved judgment and refined decision-making, key characteristics for those at the top.
Still, older employees face increased obstacles when looking to step back into jobs after employment gaps. Often, external factors affect hiring decisions; employers might view hiring a person in their mid-fifties as a risky short-term move, especially if retirement around 60 is anticipated.
Moreover, specific roles come with mandatory retirement ages. For example, the International Civil Aviation Organization has set a global cut-off age of 65 for pilots of international flights, and many countries require air traffic controllers to retire at ages between 56 and 60.
This tends to be justified due to the high demand for mental acuity and concentration in these jobs.
Nonetheless, experiences among individuals can vary widely.
While studies show that some adults do experience dips in their reasoning times and memory, many others maintain these skills far into old age.
What this tells us is age isn’t the sole determinant of mental capacity. Assessments should focus on individual strengths and characteristics rather than fitting people into preconceived age-related boxes.
Reframing Midlife
All these findings highlight the importance of adopting more inclusive hiring and retention practices that recognize invaluable capabilities brought by midlife workers.
For inspiration, consider Charles Darwin, who penned On the Origin of Species at age 50, or Beethoven, who—despite being profoundly deaf at 53—premiered the Ninth Symphony. And let’s not forget about Lisa Su, aged 55, who remarkably turned around the fortunes of chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices.
There are innumerable illustrious examples of figures who achieved landmark accomplishments well beyond the so-called “peak age”. Perhaps it’s high time for a perspective shift; rather than seeing midlife as a countdown, we should embrace it as a true peak!
This article is taken from The Conversation under a creative commons license. You can check out the original piece.
Provided by The Conversation
This story was first published on Medical Xpress.
