Does Aging Make Us More Conservative?

Common thinking and popular belief is that as we age we become more conservative. This is probably based on the long-held belief that older people are more rigid.

A research study conducted by sociologists Nicholas L. Danigelis, Stephen J. Cutler (University of Vermont), and Melissa Hardy, (Pennsylvania State University), is showing that the "rigidity-as-we-age" belief may be completely wrong. The study, titled "Population Aging, Intracohort Aging, and Sociological Attitudes" has been published in the leading sociological journal American Sociological Review.

The study was based on data taken from a General Social Survey conducted on a national base (United States) over a 32-years period (1972-2004). These Social surveys (a total of 25) explore the change in attitude that occur within groups of people (called cohorts) at different periods in life.

More than 46000 Americans were surveyed for their political orientations. They were asked about their opinion on political and economic roles of historically underrepresented groups (women for example); the civil liberties of atheists and homosexuals groups; and the right-to-die and sex between consenting adults.

The analysis of the data from these surveys showed that there have been changes in attitudes and beliefs in regards to the asked issues. However, contrary to generally held beliefs, the changes are towards more tolerance rather than more conservatism. So it may seem that as we age we become more liberal instead of more conservative.

The study found that change occurred in both the 18-39 and 60-and-over age groups but the change in the older group (60+) was more significant and leaned towards liberalism and not conservatism as we could have expected. Interestingly, in the younger group (19-39) the change was toward conservative beliefs. The research is very important since it is the first one to show that over the long run older people become more liberal at a faster rate than their younger pals.

The results of this study may have implications on both the business and political arena. The idea that there is a sort of social hardening as we age isn't true, so older people could be taught new things and could explore new political options as they age. For example the belief that older people "can't learn to use computers" may not be true after all and, in fact, older people are very interested in new technologies as they emerge.

Take the current political arena. Why older people would not vote for Obama (liberal) instead of McCain (conservative)?

The long held stereotype of old folks being conservatives may have deep roots in American history but as shown by this recent study older people have made more significant changes toward liberal thinking in the last 30 years.

Source:

Population Aging, Intracohort Aging, and Sociological Attitudes By. Danigelis, Nicholas L.; Hardy, Melissa; Cutler, Stephen J. American Sociological Review. Vol. 75 Number 5. pp. 812-830.