Why do people discriminate against someone who is friends with someone who is younger?

Question

Im curious about something. See when I was growing up, my dad always put me down by saying that I hung out with people younger then me. For example I would be 13 and have friends that are 11 or so then 14 years old, have friends that are 12. Now I'm 26, and feel that all my friends have to be my age or older. I hang out with people in their 40's and feel comfortable, and it seems that society is ok with it. Now if I want to live in a college dorm, they people would look at me funny and say that people in dorms ages are from 18-20, so why would you hang out with people like that? I'm like is there a big difference? My question is why do people look down at others who are friends with people who are younger? Also why don't people say, wow that person you hang out with is in his 40's, he's too old for you.

also it seems like the more conservative someone is, the more likely they would do this.

Answer 1

I guess it is because it is not considered the social norm. I too was an individual who did not hang out with my own age group. My friends were generally a couple years younger than me or were significantly older. Perhaps part of the reason that individuals look down upon those who hang out with younger people than their own age group is that they associate hanging out with the younger crowd as a sign of a lack of maturity. Since alot of drinking is associated with college age people, they may simply associate your desire to hang out with them as a desire to avoid responsibility and just party, whether or not this is the case. People's prejudices are often irrational, but nevertheless, somehow they persist.