1) The document discusses how attitudes towards different age groups can change as people age. When the author was young, they viewed older people as ignorant and prejudiced, but now as a retiree, they find themselves making similar judgments about young people. 2) It also discusses research showing that older adults tend to be more prejudiced than younger adults, possibly due to normal brain changes in late adulthood affecting areas related to inhibiting inappropriate thoughts. 3) The professor who conducted the research argues that changes in social attitudes among older adults are common, though not inevitable, and can affect relationships and social standing. However, the author disagrees and believes they and their friends have not become more prejudiced with age.

1. Age and prejudice
Russell Grenning
In 1965 whenIwas inhighschool,I thoughtthat all oldpeople were ignorant,prejudiced,stupid,
uselessandawaste of space.Half a centurylaterand inretirement,Ithinkthatyoungpeople are
ignorant, prejudiced,stupid,uselessanda waste of space.
In 1965, I wouldsay, “They (oldpeople)justdon’tgetus”...todayI findmyself beginning instructive
commentsaboutyoungpeople with, “Well,when I wasa boy...”.
Don’tyou thinkthatshowsa charming consistency,albeitfromconsiderablydifferentperspectives?
The questionof age and prejudice hasagainarisenwiththe publicationof HarperLee’s “Go Set A
Watchman”.Thiswaswritten inthe 1950s prior to heracclaimed 1960 classic, “To Kill A
Mockingbird”whichwassetin1933 – 1935. “Go Set A Watchman”issetinthe mid-1950s at the
time itwas actuallywritten.Thusitisa sequel,notaprequel.
In “To Kill A Mockingbird”, lawyerheroAtticusFinchdefendsablackman wrongly accusedof rape;
in“Go Set A Watchman”, the characterof Finch,now 72, isa racistwho resistsschool desegregation.
QueenslandUniversityProfessorof Psychology,WilliamvonHippel,usingthe twonovelsashis
inspiration,haswrittenaninteresting –and certainlychallenging–article on the BBC website
beginningwith, “Atticusmay befictional,buthis transition fromthe lone defenderof an unjustly
accused African American in “To Kill A Mockingbird”to a 72-year-old who resistsschool
desegregation in “Go Set A Watchman”isall too real.”
Undoubtedlyitisa co-incidence,butProfessorvonHippel is52,aboutthe age of the fearlessand
unprejudicedAtticus.Perhapssomebody should remembertocheckto see if he has become
somewhatprejudicedaboutlife,loveandthe whole damnthingin2035.
“My research suggeststhatalthough many peopleremain unprejudiced throughouttheirlives,older
adultshavea tendency to be moreprejudiced than their youngercounterparts.Psychologistsused to
believe thatgreater prejudiceamong olderadultswasdueto the factthatolder peoplegrew up in
less egalitarian times. In contrastto this view,we havegathered evidencethatnormalchangesto
the brain in late adulthood can lead to greaterprejudiceamong olderadults,”he wrote.
He continued,“Thefrontallobesarethe last partof thebrain to develop aswe progressthrough
childhood and adolescence,and thefirstpart of the brain to atrophy asweage.Atrophy of the
frontallobesdoesnot diminish intelligence, butit degrades brain areasresponsibleforinhibiting
irrelevant of inappropriatethoughts.Research suggeststhatthisis why older adultshavegreater
difficultyfinding the word they’relooking for – and why there is a greater likelihood of themvoicing
ideasthat they would havepreviously suppressed.”
PerhapsProfessorvonHippel isrightandmyfrontal lobesare dryingupor freezingup,orotherwise
givingup,buta gooddeal of what I saynowadaysisthe wonderful realisationthatretirementmeans
I don’t– andwon’t– have to give a two-pennytoss aboutwhatanybodythinks.Icoulddonobetter
than quote RhettButlerin “GoneWith The Wind” andsay, “Frankly my dear,I don’tgive a damn.”

2. The professorwrote further,“In ourresearch we havefound evidenceof a variety of problems...for
example,olderadultsin our experimentsaremore likely than youngeradultsto rely on stereotypes
and they havemore difficultythan youngeradultssuppressing theirstereotypicthoughts.Butit
doesn’tstop there- wefind thatolder adultsare morelikely to be socially insensitive acrossa variety
of domains.Furthermore,allof these effectsonly emergeamong olderadultswho show signsof poor
frontallobefunctioning.”
He concludes, “To return to AtticusFinch,it doesindeed seem thatsomeolder adultsstart to show
prejudiceeven if they neverdid before.Such changesin social attitudesare notinevitable, butthey
are common..And peoplewho find themselvesbecoming less tolerantor moreprejudiced can be
quite unsettled by the shiftin their own attitudes – a changethatcan affectfriendshipsand their
position in society.”
Well,now,isn’tthisall abittoo much for all of us rational,intelligent,sociallyaware,
environmentallyconsciousandpoliticallysensitive olderfolks –of whichI am one?I’mnot goingto
be lecturedbysome American(forProfessorvonHippelisone) blow-inhowevermanydegrees,
publishedpapers,books,awardsandall of the resthe hasand be virtuallyaccusedof being
“common”.
I’ve done a surveyamongmychums of my age,more or less,andwe all agree thatwe have not
become curmudgeonlyoldfartsanymore thanmyclassmatesin1965 wouldhave consideredusto
be arrogant youngfarts. All thathas changedisthe passage of time,right?
AndI do like one quote takenatrandomfrom “To Set A Watchman”, “Prejudice,a dirty word,and
faith, a clean one,havesomething in common:they both begin wherereason ends.”