In collaboration with a Ph. D student at Zeppelin University in Germany, an Associate Professor at the School of Communication at Ohio State University published a paper saying that heavy experiments showed that the elder generation are pleased on one level or another when they encounter any bad news regarding the younger generation.

Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, the author of the study, and Matthias R. Hastall selected 178 participants aging between 18 and 30 years old, to represent the youngsters, while 98 participants, aging between 50 and 65 years old to represent the elders.

During the research, the participants were given some pieces of news online, in random distribution, whereas the researchers studied the participants’ choices.

According to the study, these feelings are not erupting out of hate or anger, but it is mostly out of the ego. The study showed that the number of bad news elders read about the youth is directly proportional with the level of the elders’ self-esteem. Simply, when they read such news, the elders feel as if they won, and that they know better and more than the youngsters as the latter are apparently finding troubles.

The study added that the majority of the seniors would search for the bad news intentionally.