A well-known finding in psychology on aging and life satisfaction is that, perhaps paradoxically, people show continued growth throughout the later years of life. Paradoxical, because in many ways, people’s objective circumstances change in terms of social relationships (often due to the loss of a partner and other family members), economics (often due to retirement), and health (typically due to physical changes and chronic disease).
You might argue, and you’d be partially right, that there’s a survivor effect in that the happier people live longer and so become an increasingly select group. Apart from these potential effects, though, what might be the underlying mechanisms that contribute to this growth in satisfaction with life’s vagaries?
The Role of Deprivation in Life Satisfaction
The University of Auckland’s Kieren Lilly and colleagues (2025) used a sophisticated developmental design to track lifespan changes in one component of life satisfaction: relative deprivation. Feeling that others have more than you do could certainly detract from your sense of equanimity. In times when economic inequality seems to be growing worldwide, it is easy to imagine how believing that you’re worse off than those around you could make you feel bad about yourself and your circumstances.
As defined by the New Zealand research team, “believing oneself or one’s group to be deprived relative to other individuals or groups, respectively, is an integral antecedent to various outcomes (p. 555).” These outcomes range from health and well-being to the desire to beat out groups you see as more fortunate than yourself.
Feelings of deprivation can take the form of individual-based relative deprivation (IRD) to group-based relative deprivation (GRD). The key to understanding the role of both in mental health involves the distinction between objective circumstances and subjective perceptions. It’s in this comparison that we can understand how aging could affect both. Because older adults do have a number of objectively challenging life circumstances, but are high in life satisfaction, they are somehow able to overcome their objective inequality.
Testing IRD and GRD Over Adulthood
The research design that Lilly et al. used estimates lifespan changes through short, repeated follow-up or longitudinal designs. To do this, they gathered data from a large nationwide study begun in New Zealand in 2009. By the end, over 69,000 adults were tested as many as 12 times (although only 2,200 provided complete data).
The sample was comprised primarily of adults of New Zealand European descent (80 percent), as well as Māori (13 percent), Asian (5 percent), and Pasifika (3 percent). They were grouped into 5-year cohorts based on their year of birth; the age range was 21 to 80 years.
To assess IRD, the researchers asked participants to rate themselves on a 1 to 7 scale on (a) “I’m frustrated by what I earn relative to other people in New Zealand” and (b) “I generally earn less than other people in New Zealand.” GRD was measured with the items : (a) “I’m frustrated with what my ethnic group earns relative to other groups in New Zealand” and (b) “People from my ethnic group generally earn less than other groups in New Zealand.” The study’s design permitted statistical modeling comparing normative aging vs. generational differences.
The findings revealed a decline in feelings of IRD across the adult age span. As the authors concluded, “the decline in feelings of IRD across the lifespan may reflect a general reduction in social comparison tendencies as people age and find social comparisons less relevant for determining their individual societal position” (p. 567). Instead, people compare themselves to their previous selves, or make “temporal” comparisons.
This effect occurred across cohorts and ethnic groups, suggesting that the IRD decline reflects a normative aging process. The findings on GRD showed a similar process, although with a sharper downward curve in deprivation. This led the authors to conclude that by middle age and beyond, individuals experience “an achieved, stable identity” with respect to their group’s economic status.
What the Findings Might Mean for Your Own Trajectory
Wherever you are in the developmental spectrum, there are lessons to be learned from this comprehensive and well-controlled study. Given that your earlier years of adulthood are likely to be marked by higher levels of social comparison, it might be wise to take the long view that, over time, you may start to look inward more than looking outward.
It’s easy to be discouraged, especially in times of economic hardship, when you see other people who have a more affluent lifestyle than you. But in the long run, it’s those temporal comparisons that really count. Fast-forward into your future, and you might see that making it into later life can bring its own set of mental health benefits.
For people who are further along the adult age spectrum, the findings may simply validate what you’re already experiencing. As you think back on your previous life, knowing that you made it despite all the challenges, financial and otherwise, can reinforce your identity as someone who was able to make it despite the odds.
The authors note that they only looked at fiscal deprivation, and not the many other sources of inequity. Clearly, there’s more to life satisfaction than having a healthy bank account. Even so, given the importance of financial security as a baseline for other desirable outcomes, this study itself provides important insights on the aging process.
To sum up, taking stock of what you have, wherever you are in life, is worth doing every so often. Knowing that as you get older, the stock-taking process is likely to tick upward can help propel your feelings of fulfillment now and in the future.