Report: Paris Hilton And Lindsay Lohan Help People Over 50 Feel Better

Unless you’re living in a cave, you’ve probably heard in some way about Paris Hilton’s cocaine possession and Lindsay Lohan’s continuous encounters with law enforcement. Turns out, the two ladies are at least helping someone in the process. According to a new Ohio State University study, reading negative news about young people boosts older people’s self-esteem.

Ohio State University Professor Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick asked 178 young adults (18-30 years old) and 98 older adults (50-65 years old) in Germany to read a new online magazine that was not yet available to the public. The “magazine” was actually created for the experiment and contained 10 carefully pre-tested stories. Each story was either a positive or negative account of a younger or older individual (each participant got only one version of each story).

The participants were told they would not have time to read all the stories, so they should only choose stories that they found interesting. Each participant got a mix of positive and negative stories about younger and older people. The computer participants used to read the stories tracked what each participant read and how long they read it for. After they were done reading, participants were given a short questionnaire to measure their self esteem.

Knobloch-Westerwick found older people were more likely to select negative articles about young people, and did not show a preference for negative or positive stories about people in their age group. And as older people read more negative stories about younger people, their self-esteem got higher and higher.

Young people, on the other hand, liked reading about other young people and ignored stories about older people. As a result, their self-esteem remained the same regardless of what they read. Knobloch-Westerwick explains the finding as follows:

Our results bolster the argument that people use the media to enhance their social identity. Older people and younger people have different goals when they use the media, and it shows in what they choose to read. Younger people, who are less certain about their own identity, prefer to read about other younger people to see how they live their lives. Older people, on the other hand, have greater certainty regarding their identity. However, living in a youth-centered culture, they may appreciate a boost in self-esteem. That’s why they prefer the negative stories about younger people, who are seen as having a higher status in our society.

Honestly, I think it’s really sad that older people enjoy when young people get in trouble. I think older people should be happier when they see young people succeed, not feed off the negativity that is in the media.