Overview
- Spanish-language outlets on June 10–11 published syntheses of decades of psychology research reporting that adults roughly between about 50 and 75 years old tolerate and often prefer silence more than younger cohorts.
- Experts cited in the coverage say the nervous system adapts to the stimulus level experienced in childhood so people who grew up without constant screens find quiet less aversive.
- Researchers invoke Laura Carstensen’s socioemotional selectivity theory and the ‘positivity effect’ to explain how aging shifts priorities toward low-arousal, emotionally meaningful states like calm.
- The articles note measurable benefits of silence for memory, attention, stress reduction and emotional regulation while cautioning that most studies rely on self-report and vary in age cutoffs.
- Coverage emphasizes that age is not the only factor: personality, culture, life experience and daily habits also shape whether someone prefers silence and how they use it for well-being.