Angry, rude Aussies

Good manners becoming a thing of the past

GOOD manners are on the decline as Australians become angrier and more aggressive, a wellbeing study suggests.

Our busy lifestyles, impatience and less focus on being polite are factors being blamed for people increasingly getting hot under the collar.

An overwhelming almost three in four adults polled believed our society was becoming more short-tempered.

Changing values and social norms was one of the biggest reasons identified in the National Australia Bank research, along with drugs, alcohol and money worries.

NAB head of behavioural economics Dean Pearson said traditional politeness and respect did not appear to be as valued by as many people as in the past.

“We do not seem to be treating ourselves as politely in how we speak to each other, whether it be speaking to a child or someone serving us in a shop,” Mr Pearson said.

“We’re in a big hurry, so there’s intolerance and an expectation of not having things get in our way.”

The rise of social media also seemed to have added to rudeness.

“Technology enables people to make comments that they would never say to someone face-to-face,” he said.

Job stress, family breakdown, soft penalties for criminals and traffic congestion were other causes for society becoming angrier and more aggressive, according to the survey of 2000 Australians.

NAB regularly monitors wellbeing trends.

The home we live in, family and personal relationships, personal safety, standard of living and feeling part of our local community continued to be a positive influence.

Anxiety was a consistent main detractor from wellbeing.

The latest research found that when we were anxious we mostly turned to exercise to relieve stress (27 per cent).

Other choices included listening to music (25 per cent), spending time with family, a partner or friends (25 per cent), or doing an activity we like (23 per cent).

However, a disturbing number also admit to responding to anxiety in an unhealthy manner.

These include withdrawal (23 per cent), eating (22 per cent), alcohol (18 per cent) and smoking (13 per cent).