I don’t make this stuff up.
Results from a new study done by researchers at the University of Warwick in England indicates there’s evidence for a midlife crisis in great apes.
The bottom line, say researchers, is that the tendency of humans to have discontent during this time of life may have been passed on through evolution.
The research looked collected data from 508 great apes from zoos and research centers in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Singapore and Japan. Those in charge of the apes filled out questionnaires that evaluated the well being of the animals.
Items evaluated, included the animal’s moods, how much pleasure they seemed to derive from social situations and how successful they were in achieving goals. There definitely seemed to be something going on in the ape’s middle age, researchers said.
The results, said researchers, “does seem to push away the likelihood that it’s dominantly something to do with human life, according to an Associated Press story.
One story that ran on the Reuters wire service about this study quoted psychologist Alex Weiss about his conjecture on the evolutionary aspects of all this.
“Maybe nature doesn’t want us to be contented in middle age, doesn’t want us sitting around contentedly with our feet up in a tree,” he said in the story. “Maybe discontent lights a fire under people, causing them to achieve more” for themselves and their family.
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