Old people aren't rude - they're just uninhibited

By Jayne Warren - 01/02/2008

If you suffered from piles or incontinence, would you want your friends asking about your condition over a supper party? The answer appears to be 'yes' - if you happen to be older. New research from Australia suggests that the older you become the more likely you are to make someone blush with embarrassment in that way.

But the research, carried at the University of New South Wales (UNSW ) in Sydney in 2005, shows that older people do not intend to be rude - it could be explained by age-related changes in brain function.

The researchers found that people aged 65 to 93 were more likely to ask each other personal questions in a public setting than those aged 18 to 25. Yet they were just as likely as the younger ones to agree that making public inquiries about private issues was socially inappropriate and embarrassing. So why does it happen?

Associate Professor Bill von Hippel, of the UNSW School of Psychology, said: "It's not just that older people were more likely than younger people to ask personal questions - in fact, young people in our study were more likely to ask each other questions of a personal nature - but they usually did so in private.

"Young people weren't too bothered when their friends were occasionally inappropriate - but older adults felt much less close to those acquaintances who asked about their private lives in public, which can cause problems in term of relationships."

Personally as I get older, I find that I'm just less bothered about what people think of me - or, put another way, its a 'take it or leave it' attitude. And the people who are really worth knowing and whom I could truly call friends, not only don't mind -  but feel liberated to do the same.

Your views? email: jayne.warren@maturetimes.co.uk