Study: Older people kinder

People in need of a favour are better off turning to the older generation, new research has found.

The type of “prosocial” kindness needed for people to put effort into helping out for no gain to themselves increases with age.

Researchers at Birmingham University found that people aged 55 to 85 were more likely to go the extra mile without expecting anything for themselves in return.

Those under 36 would put themselves out for others but only if it was to their benefit.

Dr Matthew Apps, the report’s senior author, said: “Our results showed very clearly participants in our older age group were more likely to work harder for others, even though they would gain no significant financial reward for themselves.”

Around 200 people of all age groups took part in the experiments which involved putting effort into a task to win money for either themselves or someone else.