General cognitive and personality-related functioning peaks between the ages of 55 and 60, according to research by psychologists from Poland and Australia who analysed cognitive abilities, personality traits, emotional intelligence, and empathy.
The findings by Professor Gilles Gignac from the University of Western Australia and Professor Marcin Zajenkowski from the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Warsaw and published in the journal Intelligence, examined intelligence levels across the human lifespan.
"Fluid intelligence, which peaks near age 20 and declines materially across adulthood, is often regarded as the most critical cognitive ability for predicting important life outcomes. Yet, human achievement in domains such as career success tends to peak much later, typically between the ages of 55 and 60. This discrepancy may reflect the fact that, while fluid intelligence may decline with age, other dimensions improve (e.g., crystallized intelligence, emotional intelligence)," the study authors said.
To investigate this, the researchers analysed trends across nine constructs associated with life success: cognitive abilities, personality traits, emotional intelligence, financial literacy, moral reasoning, resistance to sunk cost bias, cognitive flexibility, cognitive empathy, and need for cognition.
All variables were standardised on a common scale to enable direct comparisons across domains. "Age-related trajectories were very diverse: some traits, such as cognitive flexibility, deteriorated, while others improved with age, for example the ability to avoid the so-called sunk cost fallacy—investing resources when one knows it no longer makes sense," Zajenkowski said.
Despite some discrepancies between younger and older adults, the analyses show that the peak of overall functioning occurs in late midlife, between the ages of 55 and 60.
"This coincides with the typical peak of professional achievement, for example, holding key positions at work," Zajenkowski added.
In his opinion, the results challenge conventional assumptions about age and abilities, which suggest that mental capabilities peak between the ages of 20 and 30.
"As it turns out, this only applies to certain human traits, such as the ability to reason quickly. In other cases, such as verbal abilities, moral reasoning, or avoiding cognitive errors, we peak much later, even around age 60. The aggregated results of all cognitive and personality traits show that a person tends to manifest a certain kind of wisdom in late adulthood. Therefore, individuals best suited to fulfil high-impact decision-making roles are likely to be no younger than 40 or older than 65," Zajenkowski said.
PAP - Science in Poland
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