Older people are more likely to help others than younger people.
- When the task was easy, young people and older adults were equally willing to work for others.
- When the task became more demanding, older adults were more likely than younger adults to put in the effort to help others.
- There is a correlation between the willingness to make efforts to help others and a particularly pronounced altruism among seniors.
Produced by researchers at the University of Birmingham and published in the journal Psychological Science, this research involved a group of 95 adults between the ages of 18 and 36 and a group of 92 adults between the ages of 55 and 85. The objective was to assess their pro-social behavior, in other words their propensity to help others.
The researchers carried out an experiment with the participants based on the use of a portable dynamometer, a device for measuring the strength of the hand, with several degrees of intensity. Volunteers were told that each press would either earn them money or help others.
If the participants agreed to win money, they had to squeeze the device as hard as possible to achieve a satisfactory result. The researchers made sure beforehand that the effort required was the same for all participants, regardless of their physical strength.
Greater altruism among seniors
The results showed that when the task was easy, young people and older adults were equally willing to work for others. But when the task became more demanding, older adults were more likely than younger adults to put in the effort to help others.
The team also noticed a correlation between the willingness to put in the effort to help others and a particularly pronounced altruism among seniors. Among the youngest (and only among them), this feeling of compassion was also linked to the accomplishment of tasks involving their own benefits.
“Our results show very clearly that participants in the older age group were more likely to work harder for others, even if they did not derive any significant financial reward for themselves.“, notes Dr. Matthew AJ Appsco-author of the study.
“These pro-social behaviors are very important for social cohesion. Understanding how pro-social behavior changes with age is key to predicting the impact of an aging society“, adds Patricia Lockwood, also co-author of the research.
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