Research

Does Growing Old Have Benefits in the Workplace?

by Casey M. on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 5:19:39 PM MST

We might not like growing older. Most of us would gladly trade our middle-aged eyes for the vision we had when we were younger. But there are some undeniable benefits of aging. Years of experience, and all the successes and mistakes along the way, can make us wiser and smarter.

Versatility is a measure of a person’s ability to work effectively with others. And when you think about it, Versatility is affected by our experiences. After all, so much of our workplace skills are learned and developed over years of experience. And if we’re fortunate, we learn about Versatility through a coordinated learning program and figure out how to consciously improve our skills. This means we can actively work on Versatility and see the effects of our improved behavior right away, as opposed to simply letting time take its course.

We decided to look at our extensive SOCIAL STYLE database to see if there are differences in Versatility across age groups. We found that Versatility does, in fact, increase with age.

On average, Versatility is lowest for the youngest group in our study – people aged 30 and younger. These are the people with the least experience, so they are still figuring out how to get by and work productively with others. When we looked at the next oldest group, those aged 31 to 40, we found a substantial increase in average Versatility scores. These individuals have learned from their experiences; they have started to understand what behaviors are valued in the workplace.

We found another moderate increase in Versatility for people who are aged 41 to 50. These people are established and well experienced in their work lives, so it’s not surprising that Versatility continues to increase, albeit modestly. From there it levels out, with only a minor increase for people who are aged 50 and older.

So when it comes to Versatility, growing older has its benefits. That is one more reason we should respect our elders, they really do know what’s best.

Dr. Casey Mulqueen, TRACOM Director of Research

Sean E. 17 (posts) Monday, April 12, 2010 5:40:38 PM MST

MSNBC Story:  For resolving conflicts, go to grandma

A recent story  on MSNBC highlights another study that says wisdom (Versatility) improves with age.  This is consistent with TRACOM's own findings. 

Social wisdom increases with age, study shows

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
AP Science Writer
updated 7:22 a.m. MT, Tues., April 6, 2010

WASHINGTON - It turns out grandma was right: Listen to your elders. New research indicates they are indeed wise — in knowing how to deal with conflicts and accepting life's uncertainties and change.

It isn't a question of how many facts someone knows, or being able to operate a TV remote, but rather how to handle disagreements — social wisdom.

And researchers led by Richard E. Nisbett of the University of Michigan found that older people were more likely than younger or middle-aged ones to recognize that values differ, to acknowledge uncertainties, to accept that things change over time and to acknowledge others' points of view.

"Age effects on wisdom hold at every level of social class, education, and IQ," they report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In modern America, older people generally don't have greater knowledge about computers and other technology, Nisbett acknowledged, "but our results do indicate that the elderly have some advantages for analysis of social problems."

"I hope our results will encourage people to assume that older people may have something to contribute for thinking about social problems," Nisbett said.

In one part of the study the researchers recruited 247 people in Michigan, divided into groups aged 25-to-40, 41-to-59 and 60 plus.

Participants were given fictitious reports about conflict between groups in a foreign country and asked what they thought the outcome would be.

For example, one of the reports said that because of the economic growth of Tajikistan, many people from Kyrgyzstan moved to that country. While Kyrgyz people tried to preserve their customs, Tajiks wanted them to assimilate fully and abandon their customs.

The responses were then rated by researchers who did not know which individual or age group a response came from. Ratings were based on things like searching for compromise, flexibility, taking others' perspective and searching for conflict resolution.

About 200 of the participants joined in a second session, and a third section was conducted using 141 scholars, psychotherapists, clergy and consulting professionals.

The study concluded that economic status, education and IQ also were significantly related to increased wisdom, but they found that "academics were no wiser than nonacademics" with similar education levels.

While the researchers expected wisdom to increase with age they were surprised at how strong the results were for disputes in society, Nisbett said. "There is a very large advantage for older people over younger people for those."

Lynn A. Hasher, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto, called the study "the single best demonstration of a long-held view that wisdom increases with age."

The full article is available at:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36191339/ns/health-behavior/from/ET