Our economic and social beliefs change as we age, according to the data mined from OKCupid‘s dating site, Curzon explains:
A teenager starts out loving freedom, socially and economically. When the teenagers enters the job market at the bottom of the pyramid, they quickly develop progressive economic ideas, while their youthful live-and-let-live social philosophy begins to fade.
As the teenager starts to make money, economic progressivism goes out the window, but social views don’t change that much. But after the mid-40s, as retirement looms, former teenagers check their collective 401(k)s and think, you know what, let’s all get checks from the government. It’s hard to tell why social views take a hard turn for the more restrictive.At the end of the journey, economic and social views are again in agreement, but opposite of what the libertarian teenager started out.
Curzon wonders to what extent this is a reflection of the beliefs of specific generations versus universal life cycles.
In a society where the educational system and the media assiduously push liberal social goals, we should expect the young to be more liberal than the old. That’s a fairly continuous shift; each generation is more liberal than the previous generation.
But, as Lexington Green points out, it’s no surprise why people become more socially conservative in their late 20s and early 30s: they have kids.
McKellar adds his thoughts, emphasizing that permissive and restrictive should be relabeled independent and dependent.
Young people take their social and economic dependence on their parents for granted, giving it scant value. Young adults and the elderly both are in financially precarious positions, and so would like to feel there’s an economic safety net they can depend on.As people mature into middle age, they become increasingly dependent on their long-term social relationships (e.g. spouses, family) and so cherish the social norms that keep those relationships stable and well-defined. Teenagers and young adults, having invested little in their relationships so far, can afford to be more adventurous in their lifestyle choices.