As People Age, They Become More Liberal

Conventional wisdom says people grow more conservative politically as they age but a U.S. study says people 60 and over become more liberal at a faster rate.

Sociologists Nicholas L. Danigelis and Stephen J. Cutler of the University of Vermont and Melissa Hardy, a sociologist at Pennsylvania State University, suggest the long-held belief about older citizens being more set in their ways politically isn’t true.

The study used U.S. General Social Survey data from 25 surveys conducted from 1972 to 2004 that measured changes in attitudes that occur at different stages in life. The political leanings of 46,510 Americans were examined with regard to how they felt about the political and economic roles of historically subordinate groups such as women and African-Americans; the civil liberties of groups considered outside the U.S. mainstream such as atheists and homosexuals; and privacy issues such as right-to-die.

The study, published in the American Sociological Review, showed that although change occurred in both the 18-to-39 and 60-and-over age groups, the movement among the older group was greater and was most often toward increased tolerance rather than increased conservatism.

It proves that some of the commonly held beliefs about older people being rigid and unwilling to change aren’t true, Danigelis says in a statement.