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Dave Starr
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Apr 5, 9:33 PM EDT
In social dealings, being older is being wiser
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
AP Science Writer
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- It turns out grandma was right: Listen to your elders. New research indicates they are indeed wise - in knowing how to deal with conflicts and accepting life's uncertainties and change.
It isn't a question of how many facts someone knows, or being able to operate a TV remote, but rather how to handle disagreements - social wisdom.
And researchers led by Richard E. Nisbett of the University of Michigan found that older people were more likely than younger or middle-aged ones to recognize that values differ, to acknowledge uncertainties, to accept that things change over time and to acknowledge others' points of view.
"Age effects on wisdom hold at every level of social class, education, and IQ," they report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In modern America, older people generally don't have greater knowledge about computers and other technology, Nisbett acknowledged, "but our results do indicate that the elderly have some advantages for analysis of social problems."
"I hope our results will encourage people to assume that older people may have something to contribute for thinking about social problems," Nisbett said.
In one part of the study the researchers recruited 247 people in Michigan, divided into groups aged 25-to-40, 41-to-59 and 60 plus.
Participants were given fictitious reports about conflict between groups in a foreign country and asked what they thought the outcome would be.
For example, one of the reports said that because of the economic growth of Tajikistan, many people from Kyrgyzstan moved to that country. While Kyrgyz people tried to preserve their customs, Tajiks wanted them to assimilate fully and abandon their customs.
The responses were then rated by researchers who did not know which individual or age group a response came from. Ratings were based on things like searching for compromise, flexibility, taking others' perspective and searching for conflict resolution.
About 200 of the participants joined in a second session, and a third section was conducted using 141 scholars, psychotherapists, clergy and consulting professionals.
The study concluded that economic status, education and IQ also were significantly related to increased wisdom, but they found that "academics were no wiser than nonacademics" with similar education levels.
While the researchers expected wisdom to increase with age they were surprised at how strong the results were for disputes in society, Nisbett said. "There is a very large advantage for older people over younger people for those."
Lynn A. Hasher, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto, called the study "the single best demonstration of a long-held view that wisdom increases with age."
"What I think is most important about the paper is that it shows a major benefit that accrues with aging - rather than the mostly loss-based findings reported in psychology. As such, it provides a richer base of understanding of aging processes. It also suggests the critical importance of workplaces' maintaining the opportunity for older employees to continue to contribute," said Hasher, who was not part of the research team.
Lead author Nisbett, co-director of the University of Michigan's Culture and Cognition Program, is 68 and his team of co-authors ranged in age from mid-20s to mid-50s.
The research was supported by the Russell Sage Foundation, National Institute on Aging and the National Science Foundation Grant.
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_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Tue Apr 06, 2010 12:31 pm |
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1pissedoffguy
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| That post will bring Lil ACORN out of the woodwork. He and his elite friends think they are all wise and all knowing. Like friggin god or something in their minds, oops,, mentioned "god", ACORNites hate that. Their idol Karl Marx, was an athiest and they have to follow their leader. And Pachuco is part of the baggy ass pant wearing, rap and hip hop listening "don't b dissin my homies" degeneration. They don't know how to pour piss out a boot with directions written on the heel. Only people they listen to is their homie, Baracko Hussein Obama. A homie who has done good and never yet had to put in a day's of honest labor in. |
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Tue Apr 06, 2010 1:14 pm |
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back again
F L I N T O I D
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| coo-coo! |
_________________
even a small act of goodness may be a tiny raft of salvation across the treacherous gulf of sin, but one who drinks the wine of selfishness, and dances on the little boat of meaness, sinks in the ocean of ignorance.
P.Y. |
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Tue Apr 06, 2010 6:32 pm |
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1pissedoffguy
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quote:
back again schreef:
coo-coo!
Another wonderfullly witty contribution from you there Back Again! Did you have to look up how to spell that or did you write it from memory? Someday you may make an actual intelligent contribution to a discussion other than two to three words and things of that nature. But is great to see you popping in again, really. was worried about you when we didnt hear from you for that spell. I do so like a persistent foe! Hope you live long and well BA, I look forward to you and flinging insults at each other for many years to come. |
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Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:34 pm |
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untanglingwebs
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Pachuco- In your Hispanic culture and in the African American culture the elders were respected.
Too bad you have adopted the walling administration that views older citizens as replaceable. |
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Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:40 pm |
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Dave Starr
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| Back in the day, the people of Pachuco's grandparents generation were taking to the streets protesting against the government. Today, his generation condemns anyone doing the same thing. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Wed Apr 07, 2010 7:28 am |
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Pachuco
F L I N T O I D
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Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:04 am |
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Dave Starr
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| Based on some of your comments addressed to me, I wonder. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:26 am |
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twotap
F L I N T O I D
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How about these elders?? now thats a days work.
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"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Thu Apr 08, 2010 12:23 pm |
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Dave Starr
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| Only 2 horses to pull THAT? I'd have bought a ticket to watch. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Thu Apr 08, 2010 12:43 pm |
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lacyw
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twotap, where did you get that picture?
My great grandfather was a lumberjack in the U.P. when he was 14. It looks a lot like what he described. |
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Thu Apr 08, 2010 12:58 pm |
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twotap
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| According to the article they dragged it 1/2 mile to be loaded on rail cars. This is supposed to be a record load of timber at the time. I got the photo off googling mi lumber camps. I do a lot of scrounging around and metal detecting those in our area up here. One of my favorite ghost towns had a train pass by every 20 minutes during the lumber hayday .We have found a bunch of interesting stuff my favorite being old coins and bottles. |
_________________
"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Thu Apr 08, 2010 12:59 pm |
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