Recent studies show that levels of happiness for most people change throughout their lives. In a British study between 1991 and 2003, people were asked how satisfied they are 11 their lives. The resulting statistics graph shows a smile-shaped curve. Most of the people 12 happy and become progressively less happy as they grow older. For many of them, the most miserable period in their life is their 40s. 13 , their levels of happiness climb. Furthermore, it seems that men are slightly happier on average than women in their teens, but women bounce back and overtake men 14 in life. The low point seems to last longer for women—throughout their 30s and 40s, only climbing 15 women reach 50. Men, on the other hand, have the lowest point in their 40s, going up again when they reach 50.
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