More than half of men judge music from their youth to be better than today’s music – but only 41% of women feel the same

If you’ve searched YouTube recently for the glory days of David Bowie, or for classic TV shows like The Sweeney, you are probably a man pining for the past.

Men are far more nostalgic than women, miss their younger years more and believe strongly that ‘things ain’t what they used to be’, according to a survey.

Researchers found 51 per cent of men across all generations judge music from their youth to be better than today’s tunes, compared with just 41 per cent of women.

Some 31 per cent of men also prefer TV and movies from earlier eras, compared with 22 per cent of women, while 46 per cent of men rate public figures from the past – from politicians to celebrities – more highly than those of today, compared with 44 per cent of women. 

Krystine Batcho, professor of psychology at Le Moyne College in New York and an expert on nostalgia, said: ‘Nostalgia can reflect dissatisfaction with the present, and men have often viewed cultural changes less favourably than women.

Men are far more nostalgic than women, miss their younger years more and believe strongly that ‘things ain’t what they used to be’, according to a survey

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If you’ve searched YouTube recently for the glory days of David Bowie, or for classic TV shows like The Sweeney, you are probably a man pining for the past

‘Many men also feel uncertainty about what is socially acceptable today, whereas women are more likely to feel that cultural changes have created more opportunities for them to succeed and have greater control over their lives.’

The survey, in which 2,000 Britons took part, also asked if life over the past decade has been better or worse than in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. 

Remarkably, it found that the 1980s – the decade of Spandau Ballet, Wham!, Miami Vice, Fame and The A-Team – topped the nostalgia league, with 26 per cent of men preferring it to today, compared with 25 per cent of women.

Just 18 per cent of men and 15 per cent of women preferred the 1960s, while 15 per cent of men and 14 per cent of women preferred the 1970s, the decade of glam rock, disco and classic police drama The Sweeney.

The 1990s – the decade of Britpop and hip-hop, Friends, The X-Files and ER – is the only decade more popular with women (22 per cent) than men (17 per cent).

Just 11 per cent of both sexes lament the end of the Noughties, while six per cent of men and just five per cent of women wish they were back in the 2010s.

Marina Nastyushenko, of Schweppes, which commissioned the research, said: ‘We know Brits are nostalgic for all things, from clubbing to movies, and it’s interesting to see men are more nostalgic than women.’