Cheng, T.Powdthavee, N.Oswald, A.2017-04-122017-04-122017Economic Journal, 2017; 127(599):126-1420013-01331742-0350http://hdl.handle.net/2440/104468First published: 15 October 2015There is a large amount of cross-sectional evidence for a midlife low in the life cycle of human happiness and well-being (a ‘U shape’). Yet no genuinely longitudinal inquiry has uncovered evidence for a U-shaped pattern. Thus some researchers believe the U is a statistical artefact. We re-examine this fundamental cross-disciplinary question. We suggest a new test. Drawing on four data sets, and only within-person changes in well-being, we document powerful support for a U-shape in unadjusted longitudinal data without the need for regression equations. The paper’s methodological contribution is to exploit the first-derivativeen© 2015 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.life-cycle happinessJournal article003004121710.1111/ecoj.122560003951724000062-s2.0-84951993736178497