No one has fun more than the elderly

Melbourne, June 16 : When it comes to having fun, no one knows how to groove like the oldies, says a new study.

The study by researchers at the University of Queensland looked into the social lives of young and old Australians and showed that they are every bit as happy as young people.

"We know older people get out much less and socialise much less than people in the social prime of their 20s, but this doesn't seem to affect their social satisfaction," News.com.au quoted psychologist Bill von Hippel of the University of Queensland, as saying.

"We found, rather surprisingly, that older people are just as satisfied with their social lives because they seem to get much more from the few interactions they have," he said.

The research, in collaboration with the University of New South Wales (NSW), compared social activities and social satisfaction of people aged 66 and 91 to those aged 18 and 30.

Published in the US journal Psychology and Ageing, the study adds to growing evidence that the elderly are best at emphasising the positive in life.

"What we found was that a simple event like tea at a friend's house, generally thought to be rather ordinary by a younger person, was much more uplifting and brought more pleasure for an older person," Professor von Hippel said.

"They're just better at finding the good in their daily events. So, it seems life experience somehow gives you the ability to stop and smell the flowers," he added.

Prof von Hippel said that younger people were the ones who were finding it more difficult to have fun.

"We all want it, and things like Buddhist meditation help to teach it, but it seems to be really hard to attain," he said.

ANI