A recent study has stated that the nine-ender birthdays like 19, 29, 39, 49 and so on are points in life where a person is prompted to take big decisions, and also find meaning of life. The cusp birthdays lead an individual to a new era, like the 19th birthday leads someone into 20s, 29th birthday is a step towards 30s and so on. Ages such as 30s, 40s and other zero-enders overwhelm a human being, and they start looking forward to a new phase of life. There are also behavioural changes that take place in the person in this span of time.
Perception towards society, and social behaviours also change according to age, and responsibilities that tag along with age. Adam Alter, lead author of the study from New York University and his colleague, Hal Hershfield of the University of California, Los Angeles says, “People audit the meaningfulness of their lives as they approach a new decade in chronological age. This is commonly seen in people in their 40s to 50s, known as a midlife crisis, when they begin to dwell on discontents, whether they’re real or imaginary, and fantasize about escape.” Alter and Hershfield also believe that people are prone to making significant changes, even before a midlife crisis, as they approach each new decade.
The researchers also stated in the press release that, “Our research suggests that people who are nearing the end of a decade may be more likely to make large purchases (e.g., buy life insurance, invest in retirement savings, pursue cosmetic surgery, etc.). Being aware of the tendency to do so can help consumers decide if they are making such decisions for the right reasons.” The study was conducted on over 42,000 adults from over a hundred countries. They completed questionnaires of the World Values survey from 2010 to 2014. The results of the survey suggested that most of the people had taking major life affecting decisions on their nine-ender birthdays, than in birthdays of any other digits.
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