My guest this week for part 4 of our series on midlife is Dr. Tim Windsor. Tim has done many research studies on adult development and how we change in midlife and older age. I took so much from this conversation as Tim described what we know about how to have a great second half of life.

Things we discussed included:

• My guest’s research in lifespan developmental psychology
• Optimizing one’s potential to live well in later adulthood
• How Tim came to this area of research
• The challenges and opportunities that come with an aging population
• The U-shaped curve in happiness across adulthood
• The struggles we often face in midlife
• The socio-emotional selectivity theory of Laura Carstensen at Stanford
• The downturn in happiness that’s typical of oldest old age
• Variability in the slopes of well-being across adulthood
• Organizing our lives in ways that maximize well-being in the second half of life
• Developing psychological immunity in older age
• Emotion regulation in older age
• The benefits of using “positive reappraisal” to rethink one’s perspective
• The goodness-of-fit between situation and emotion regulation strategy
• The average increases in mindfulness with older age and the research of Leeann Mahlo
• Coping through accommodation or assimilation
• Using momentary ecological assessment to measure how mindful acceptance affects one’s reactions to daily hassles
• Awareness of losses and gains in older age
• How my guest’s research influences his behavior as he looks toward older age

Tim Windsor, PhD, is a Professor in Psychology and Deputy Director of the Flinders Institute of Mental Health and Wellbeing at Flinders University.

His research focuses on examining social and psychological resources that promote well-being in older adulthood, links between views on aging, health and well-being, and developing interventions to promote engagement with life.

He is Director of the Generations Research Initiative at Flinders and is a Distinguished Member the Australian Association of Gerontology, and a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.

Learn more about Tim and his research at his faculty website.