iStock/Thinkstock(CHICAGO) — There’s one expression every man has to learn when he reaches his golden years, namely, “Get off my lawn!”
Clint Eastwood notwithstanding, there is the perception that old men are naturally grumpy and cantankerous, whether they can help it or not.
Yet, Claudia Haase who heads Northwestern’s Life-Span Development Lab, says that something entirely different happens as people grow old and mature, which is that they become more trusting of others.
Partnering with researchers from the University of Buffalo, Haase and her team examined two studies, one involving 1,200 people from the U.S. and another massive study of close to 200,000 individuals form 83 countries.
What Haase concluded from looking at different age groups from a vast spectrum of cultures is that “levels of trust increase as people get older.” With perhaps a little grumpiness thrown in for good measure.
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