Want Empathy? Find A Woman In Her 50s

What is it about women in their fifties that makes them the most empathetic people on the planet? Researchers at the University of Michigan don’t really know, which is not to say they don’t care.  A U Michigan news release suggests that it might be that women who are now in their fifties grew up in a time of great societal change that emphasized care for others. Or it could be a biological imperative. What the researchers do know is that a study of more than 75,000 adults showed that late middle-aged adults were higher in both of the aspects of empathy that were measured –their ability to react emotionally to the experiences of others, and the likelihood that they would try to understand how things looked from the perspective of others– and women in that age group out-empathied men. Do you care? It may be because you’re a woman in her fifties. Read more from the University of Michigan.