Old People Enjoy Reading Negative Stories About Young

A study by Dr. Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick and co-author Matthias Hastall suggests that your grandma's self-esteem gets a boost when she hears about the stupid things young people do. "Living in a youth centered culture, they may appreciate a boost in self-esteem. That's why they prefer the negative stories about younger people, who are seen as having a higher status in our society," said Dr. Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick. From the article: "All the adults in the study were shown what they were led to believe was a test version of a new online news magazine. They were also given a limited time to look over either a negative and positive version of 10 pre-selected articles. Each story was also paired with a photograph depicting someone of either the younger or the older age group. The researchers found that older people were more likely to choose to read negative articles about those younger than themselves. They also tended to show less interest in articles about older people, whether negative or positive."

nutshots rule

[Drakkenmensch]

That certainly explains the widespread appeal of youtube fail videos starring spectacular parkour and skateboard wipeouts.

Which way...

[ShaunC]

...to the farmers' market?

Re:Get off my LAWN!

[Maxo-Texas]

"Trip and break your arm getting off my lawn! "

(which reminds me of the old joke...

A young person in a sports car cuts off an old lady in a Cadillac.

the old lady honks in irritation and the young person shouts out, "you were too slow! I'm younger and faster!"

to which the old lady guns her Cadillac into the sports car shouting, "Well I'm old and insured!"

Re:They have a saying

[Bing Tsher E]

'Young' is a label that can be affixed on all young people.

'Geezer' on the other hand is a small subclass of older people.

Also, I wonder if Pete Townshend still hopes he'd died before he grew old?

Re:from the get-off-my-lawn

[mcvos]

When I was young, old people were still properly annoyed at the stupid things we used to do, instead of secretly enjoying it!

Re:hmm

[Anonymous Coward]

This just in: Old people like WRITING negative stereotypical stories about the young, too.

Yes, I'll get off your lawn, sir.

Re:And next week...

[Locke2005]

Followed by: slashdot readers enjoy reading negative stories about attractive people that get laid on a regular basis!

Re:hmm

[Locke2005]

Spoken like a true fortysomething whose deadbeat kids have moved back into their basement because they can't find a job!

And then...

[twoallbeefpatties]

Followed by, "Low-Digit Slashdotters Enjoy Reading Stories About the Failures of Other Websites."

Re:Old People Enjoy Reading Negative Stories About

[Rogerborg]

Didn't their society end up collapsing?

Yes, and it collapsed because their warrior class spent all their time playing "oil the spear" with young boys. See? Kids destroyed ancient Greece. Q.E.D.

Re:Ummm so what?

[Anonymous Coward]

Go to a retirement home and ask the elderly if they feel high status and valued by society... let us know what they say.

Go to any place and ask them if they feel valued by society, and the answer will almost always be a resounding "No!".

• Rich people think the poor are taking too much of their money via tax
• the poor feel abandoned
• the young feel patronised and controlled
• the old feel ignored
• the rich-white-males feel discriminated against by reverse discrimination
• the "minorities" feel that old-style discrimination is still alive and kicking
• the left feel like the country's drifting right
• the right feel like the country's gone socialist
• the religious feel persecuted
• the non-religious feel like they've been made into pariahs.