Study: These properties decrease with age

"Forever Young" – who wouldn't want to be? Here you can find out which characteristics contribute to keeping our youth as long as possible.

In itself, growing old is something beautiful: after all, it means nothing more than that we have a long life. In his podcast "Old enough to be happy", the happiness researcher AndrĂ© Schulz suggests that we call "old age" from now on simply "life" – in order to free the concept of negative connotations that we may associate with the term ( In the podcast he also gives other great suggestions to reconsider your own attitude towards getting older, but only marginally). Until this proposal has prevailed, we can still work to make us feel young or are young at an older age.

Study: How does aging affect our passion?

How we can achieve this is now provided by a new study from Norway that has not yet been published, but is already quoted in "Psychologytoday". A team of scientists from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, led by the psychologist Hermundur Sigmundsson, examined how the three personality traits passion, willpower (grit) and confidence (can-do attitude) ) develop in the course of our lives.

By surveying around 1,000 people of all age groups, the researchers classified the test persons on a scale with regard to the criteria, e.g. B. from "extremely passionate / enthusiastic" to "lethargic / dispassionate". What was noticeable: Around mid-50s, the enthusiasm and passion of the people in the test group fell significantly. Or willpower. But definitely one of the two.

Passion AND willpower keep us young

"People over 50 can be very passionate, but have little discipline – or vice versa," study leader Hermundur Sigmundsson told Norwegian media. Problem: When one of these traits is missing, we find it harder to find new goals and to develop and grow. "Our passion shows us the way and shows us what inspires us and what we want to achieve. Willpower promotes our willingness to make an effort and make an effort to achieve something," explains the psychologist. Only both together allow us to remain confident and to lead a dynamic, self-determined and happy life – and to feel young.

What to do now

The good news: According to Sigmundsson, we can work specifically on our passion and Maintaining willpower for as long as possible. "We have to find out what our interests are and develop and expand them in a targeted manner. We should also realize that passion, discipline and a positive attitude are connected," said the expert.

Hobbies or occupations that are fun or make us happy as well as challenging would therefore be ideal to strengthen our discipline and enthusiasm in equal measure. They can help us to stay active, curious and flexible, both physically and mentally, even at an advanced age. However, we shouldn't wait until we're over 50 or even retire before looking for such interests. First of all, it may be too late by then. And secondly, it can otherwise happen under certain circumstances that we otherwise already feel old at 35.