Why Grandma knows best: Study reveals older people have more empathy

If your grandparents seem wiser and more caring than you there appears to be a scientific reason for it.

Researchers have discovered that 'emotional intelligence' peaks after the age of 60.

As a result, older generations have more sensitivity and empathy than younger adults. They are also better at seeing the positive side of stressful situations.

Your caring, sharing grandma: Older people often have different perspectives and focus more on close interpersonal relationships, research has found

US scientists believe it makes sense that humans develop an enhanced 'caring' side near the end of their lives.

'Increasingly, it appears that the meaning of late life centres on social relationships and caring for and being cared for by others,' said psychologist Professor Robert Levenson, from the University of California at Berkeley.

'Evolution seems to have tuned our nervous systems in ways that are optimal for these kinds of interpersonal and compassionate activities as we age.'

In one study, the scientists looked at how 144 healthy adults in their 20s, 40s and 60s reacted to neutral, sad and 'disgusting' film clips.

Participants were asked to adopt a detached and objective attitude, show no emotion, or focus on the positive aspects of what they were seeing.

The findings, published in the journal Psychology and Aging, showed it was easier for older people to see negative scenes in a positive light.

This is a recognised coping strategy that draws on life experience and lessons learned from the past.

By contrast, young and middle-aged participants were better at 'tuning out' and diverting attention away from the unpleasant films.

Such 'detached appraisal' draws heavily on brain functions responsible for memory, planning and impulse control that diminish with age.

All three age groups were equally good at clamping down on their emotional responses when they had to.

In another study, reported in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Berkeley scientists used similar methods to test sensitivity to sadness.

Joy in old age: Fiindings published in the journal Psychology and Aging, show it is often easier for older people to put a positive spin on things

A total of 222 healthy adults in their 20s, 40s and 60s were shown emotionally charged film clips while electrodes attached to the skin recorded their physiological responses.

Older participants showed more sadness in response to the films than their younger counterparts.

'In late life, individuals often adopt different perspectives and goals that focus more on close interpersonal relationships,' said lead researcher Dr Benjamin Seider.

'By doing so, they become increasingly sensitised to sadness because the shared experience of sadness leads to greater intimacy in interpersonal relationships.'

Prof Levinson pointed out that, contrary to popular belief, heightened sensitivity to sadness does not indicate an increased risk of depression. In fact, it is a healthy sign.

'Sadness can be a particularly meaningful and helpful emotion in late life, as we are inevitably confronted with and need to deal with the losses we experience in our own life and with the need to give comfort to others,' he said.