Australian researchers have found that there is a very strong possibility that youth really is wasted on the young.
A team of researchers from the University of Queensland (UQ) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have found that so-called 'grumpy old' men and women, do in fact enjoy life far more than younger adults.
A study into the links between age and social satisfaction has revealed how much older adults, age 66 to 91, and younger adults, age 18 to 30, get out of life - and the results will come as a surprise.
Professor Bill von Hippel, from UQ's School of Psychology, in collaboration with Dr. Julie Henry and student Diana Matovic from UNSW, measured social activities and social satisfaction in both groups and found that while younger adults are far more socially active they were no happier with their social lives than older adults.
Professor von Hippel says despite older people engaging in fewer social activities with others and spending more time alone each day, they are just as socially satisfied as their younger counterparts and this social resilience appears to be down to how older and younger adults perceive their social activities.
He says the research suggests that if a young person and an old person have the same experience, the older adult is likely to find it more uplifting and older adults appear to see the good things in life more easily and are less likely to be upset by the little things that go wrong.