People search for meaning when they approach a new decade in chronological age.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Alter AL
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4260584 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
People search for meaning when they approach a new decade in chronological age.
Alter Adam L AL Hershfield Hal E HE
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20141117 48
Although humans measure time using a continuous scale, certain numerical ages inspire greater self-reflection than others. Six studies show that adults undertake a search for existential meaning when they approach a new decade in age (e.g., at ages 29, 39, 49, etc.) or imagine entering a new epoch, which leads them to behave in ways that suggest an ongoing or failed search for meaning (e.g., by exercising more vigorously, seeking extramarital affairs, or choosing to end their lives). ...[more]
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