scholarly journals Dispositional and Situational Emotion Regulation in Younger and Older Adults

GeroPsych ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 109-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Hofer ◽  
Mathias Allemand
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Stimulus Presentation ◽  
Expressive Suppression ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
The Given

Abstract. Younger and older adults (N = 207) viewed a film scene eliciting strong negative emotions and then indicated how they had regulated their emotions. Dispositional emotion regulation was measured prior to stimulus presentation. Older adults showed higher levels of dispositional suppression than younger adults. Furthermore, individual differences in dispositional expressive suppression were predictive of reappraisal and suppression in the given situation. However, dispositional suppression was more strongly related to situational suppression among older adults than among younger adults. Future directions concerning the importance of and possible implications for age differences in coping with stressful situations are discussed.

Video Games and Emotion Regulation

GeroPsych ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 205-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn L. Ossenfort ◽  
Derek M. Isaacowitz
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Interactive Media ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Media Preferences

Abstract. Research on age differences in media usage has shown that older adults are more likely than younger adults to select positive emotional content. Research on emotional aging has examined whether older adults also seek out positivity in the everyday situations they choose, resulting so far in mixed results. We investigated the emotional choices of different age groups using video games as a more interactive type of affect-laden stimuli. Participants made multiple selections from a group of positive and negative games. Results showed that older adults selected the more positive games, but also reported feeling worse after playing them. Results supplement the literature on positivity in situation selection as well as on older adults’ interactive media preferences.

scholarly journals EXPLORING AGE, GENDER, AND RELATIONSHIP CLOSENESS DIFFERENCES IN RESPONSES TO IGNORED DISRESPECT

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S305-S305
Author(s):  
Jenessa C Steele ◽  
Amanda Chappell ◽  
Rachel Scott
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Relationship Closeness ◽  
Close Condition

Abstract Emotional responses to disrespect tend to be negative (Hawkins, 2015). Little is known about how responses to disrespect vary across age groups and relationship closeness. It is unknown whether older adults have more emotional protection against disrespectful experiences, or are more deeply affected due to relationship closeness. Overall, we might expect that older adults react less negatively to disrespect compared to young adults, as they are more-skilled emotion regulators (Carstensen, 1991; English & Carstensen, 2014). We aimed to explore if, and under which circumstances, older adults are more or less sensitive to disrespect compared to younger adults. Three hundred participants responded to six scenarios illustrating ignored disrespect. Participants were randomly assigned to close or distant relationship disrespect scenarios. Relationship closeness was first determined by requesting participants identify a person in each layer of Kahn and Antonucci’s (1980) Social Convoy Model. Identified names were then automatically inserted into the six scenarios. Emotional responses and sensitivity to each scenario were recorded. Participants in the close condition reported more sensitivity to disrespect and negative emotions than participants in the distant condition. Females reported more sensitivity to disrespect and negative emotions than males. We did not find overwhelming support for age differences in responses to disrespect. A single scenario indicated younger participants more sensitive to disrespect than older participants. Findings suggest it is more hurtful to be disrespected by someone close to you and females may be more sensitive to disrespect than males. More research investigating the role of age in disrespect is needed.

Trait Emotion Regulation Predicts Individual Differences in Momentary Emotion and Experience

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-377
Author(s):  
Reed Maxwell ◽  
Steven Jay Lynn ◽  
Gregory P. Strauss
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Expressive Suppression ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Emotion Regulation Strategy ◽  
Regulation Strategies ◽  
Open Question

A sizable literature has yet to establish a reliable empirical connection between the trait conceptualization of emotion regulation as habitual, cross-situation emotion regulation tendencies and its state conceptualization as real-time, fluid, momentary emotion–situation interactivity and dependency. Thus, an open question remains: Do self-reported differences in tendencies to use one or another emotion regulation strategy predict self-reported, momentary emotional states and experiences, and are differences in these emotional states consistent with differences in emotional reactivity observed in previous studies among individuals in experimental paradigms asked to make real-time use of the emotion regulation strategies represented by these trait measures? If trait measures of emotion regulation validly reflect actual uses of particular strategies (e.g., expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal), then these measures should predict individual differences in momentary emotions and experiences associated with habitual use of these strategies. Examining a sample of 177 participants, we found that differential endorsements of habitual strategy use on these measures were associated with individual differences in self-reported momentary emotion and experience that correspond to well-documented differences in reactivity reported among individuals instructed to apply these strategies in experimental settings. Limitations of these findings and suggestions for future directions are discussed.

Age Differences in Emotion Regulation During a Distressing Film Scene

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Hofer ◽  
Laetitia Burkhard ◽  
Mathias Allemand
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Emotion Regulation Strategies ◽  
Manipulation Check ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Specific Emotion ◽  
Regulation Strategies ◽  
Theoretical Considerations

Recent research has emphasized age differences in emotion regulation strategies. However, not much is known about age differences in the use of different regulation strategies during a highly distressing film scene that evokes strong negative emotions of anger and sadness. Therefore, we examined age differences in four situation-specific emotion regulation strategies – namely, rumination, distraction, suppression, and mediality (a form of media-specific reappraisal). A sample of 99 older and 108 younger participants reported their current emotional state, then watched a highly distressing film scene, and finally reported their emotional reactions to the scene and the emotion regulation strategies they used. The manipulation check indicated that the film was successful in eliciting strong negative emotions of sadness and anger. Furthermore, after securing measurement invariance, we found that older adults reported higher scores in mediality and suppression than younger adults. No differences were found concerning distraction and rumination. Results are discussed in the light of theoretical considerations.

scholarly journals Age Differences in Beliefs About Emotion Regulation Strategies

2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 316-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly M Livingstone ◽  
Vanessa L Castro ◽  
Derek M Isaacowitz
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Latent Profile Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Emotion Regulation Strategies ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Regulation Strategies

Abstract Objectives Age shifts in emotion regulation may be rooted in beliefs about different strategies. We test whether there are age differences in the beliefs people hold about specific emotion regulation strategies derived from the process model of emotion regulation and whether profiles of emotion beliefs vary by age. Method An adult life-span sample (N = 557) sorted 13 emotion regulation strategies either by (a) how effective the strategies would be or (b) how likely they would be to use them, in 15 negative emotion-eliciting situations. Results Younger adults ranked attentional and cognitive distraction more effective than older adults, and preferred avoidance, distraction, and rumination more (and attentional deployment less) than middle-aged and older adults. Latent profile analysis on preferences identified three distinct strategy profiles: Classically adaptive regulators preferred a variety of strategies; situation modifiers showed strong preferences for changing situations; a small percentage of people preferred avoidance and rumination. Middle-aged and older adults were more likely than younger adults to be classically adaptive regulators (as opposed to situation modifiers or avoiders/ruminators). Discussion These findings provide insight into the reasons people of different ages may select and implement different emotion regulation strategies, which may influence their emotional well-being.

scholarly journals Cloudy with a chance of feelings: Affective forecasting as a resource for situation selection across the lifespan

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria A. Floerke ◽  
Molly Sands ◽  
Derek Isaacowitz ◽  
Ayanna K Thomas ◽  
Heather L. Urry
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Affective Forecasting ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Behavioral Assessments ◽  
Physical And Psychological Health ◽  
Forecasting Errors ◽  
New Hypothesis

Despite the importance of emotion regulation (ER) to physical and psychological health, little is known about the resources that contribute to ER success. In two studies, we tested the hypothesis that affective forecasting, or the ability to predict how situations will make one feel, would be associated with situation selection, an ER strategy in which one chooses situations based on their emotional potential. In Study 1, 53 younger adults completed behavioral assessments of both affective forecasting and situation selection. Contrary to our predictions, there was no robust support for the hypothesis. However, a number of design limitations may have obscured the hypothesized association. Thus, we conducted a second study to retest the hypothesis after instituting several improvements in measurement and timing. In addition, we sought to test a new hypothesis that the association between affective forecasting and situation selection would vary by age. In Study 2, 54 younger and 50 older adults completed behavioral assessments of affective forecasting and situation selection. Analyses indicated that making fewer forecasting errors was associated with selecting fewer emotional relative to neutral situations. No robust age differences were found. This pattern suggests that affective forecasting may be a resource for situation selection across the lifespan.

scholarly journals Age Differences in Executive Control Assessed with a Robotic Object Hit and Avoid Test of Rapid Motor Decision Making

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 881-882
Author(s):  
Alexandra Watral ◽  
Kevin Trewartha
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Cognitive Status ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Neuropsychological Tasks ◽  
Measures Of Performance

Abstract Motor decision-making processes are required for many standard neuropsychological tasks, including the Trail Making Test (TMT), that aim to assess cognitive functioning in older adults. However, in their standard formats, it is difficult to isolate the relative contributions of sensorimotor and cognitive processes to performance on these neuropsychological tasks. Recently developed clinical tasks use a robotic manipulandum to assess both motor and cognitive aspects of rapid motor decision making in an object hit (OH) and object hit and avoid (OHA) task. We administered the OH and OHA tasks to 77 healthy younger adults and 59 healthy older adults to assess age differences in the motor and cognitive measures of performance. We administered the TMT parts A and B to assess the extent to which OHA performance is associated with executive functioning in particular. The results indicate that after controlling for hand speed, older adults performed worse on the OH and OHA tasks than younger adults, performance declines were far greater in the OHA task, and the global performance measures, which have been associated with cognitive status, were more sensitive to age differences than motor measures of performance. Those global measures of performance were also associated with measures of executive functioning on the TMT task. These findings provide evidence that rapid motor decision making tasks are sensitive to declines in executive control in aging. They also provide a way to isolate cognitive declines from declines in sensorimotor processes that are likely a contributing factor to age differences in neuropsychological test performance.

scholarly journals AGE DIFFERENCES IN POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT: ROLE OF SELF-RELEVANCE

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S785-S785
Author(s):  
Tze Kiu Wong ◽  
Helene H Fung
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Older People ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Political Discussion ◽  
Younger Adults

Abstract Previous studies usually found that older people are less politically engaged than younger adults, especially when considering political behavior other than voting. The current study extends the Selective Engagement hypothesis (Hess, 2014) to political engagement. 81 younger adults and 79 older adults rated 8 issues on self-relevance and their willingness to engage in political discussion, arguments and collective action on each issue. The predicted moderating effect of self-relevance was not found, but older people indeed are more willing to discuss (B = 0.07, p = 0.027) and argue with others on more self-relevant issues (B = 0.06, p = 0.031). Perceived cost of collective action was found to be a moderator, such that self-relevance was less important than other factors for high-cost actions (B = -0.016, p = 0.013). The current research sheds light on potential ways to increase older adults’ engagement in social issues.

Age Differences in the Social Associative Learning of Trust Information

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kendra Leigh Seaman ◽  
Alexander P. Christensen ◽  
Katherine Senn ◽  
Jessica Cooper ◽  
Brittany Shane Cassidy
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Social Cues ◽  
Trust Game ◽  
Time Model ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Social ◽  
Over Time

Trust is a key component of social interaction. Older adults, however, often exhibit excessive trust relative to younger adults. One explanation is that older adults may learn to trust differently than younger adults. Here, we examine how younger (N=33) and older adults (N=30) learn to trust over time. Participants completed a classic iterative trust game with three partners. Younger and older adults shared similar amounts but differed in how they shared money. Compared to younger adults, older adults invested more with untrustworthy partners and less with trustworthy partners. As a group, older adults displayed less learning than younger adults. However, computational modeling shows that this is because older adults are more likely to forget what they have learned over time. Model-based fMRI analyses revealed several age-related differences in neural processing. Younger adults showed prediction error signals in social processing areas while older adults showed over-recruitment of several cortical areas. Collectively, these findings suggest that older adults attend to and learn from social cues differently from younger adults.

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