Age Advantages of Emotional Experience during the COVID-19 Pandemic are Robust, but Diminished Compared to Pre-pandemic Conditions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Sun ◽  
Disa Sauter
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Selection Strategies ◽  
Scale Test ◽  
Prolonged Stress

Getting old is generally seen as unappealing, yet aging confers considerable advantages in several psychological domains (North & Fiske, 2015). In particular, older adults are better off emotionally than younger adults, with aging associated with the so-called “age advantages,” that is, more positive and less negative emotional experiences (Carstensen et al., 2011). Although the age advantages are well established, it is less clear whether they occur under conditions of prolonged stress. In a recent study, Carstensen et al (2020) demonstrated that the age advantages persist during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that older adults are able to utilise cognitive and behavioural strategies to ameliorate even sustained stress. Here, we build on Carstensen and colleagues’ work with two studies. In Study 1, we provide a large-scale test of the robustness of Carstensen and colleagues’ finding that older individuals experience more positive and less negative emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic. We measured positive and negative emotions along with age information in 23,629 participants in 63 countries in April-May 2020. In Study 2, we provide a comparison of the age advantages using representative samples collected before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We demonstrate that older people experience less negative emotion than younger people during the prolonged stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the advantage of older adults was diminished during the pandemic, pointing to a likely role of older adults use of situation selection strategies (Charles, 2010).

scholarly journals Sustained Stress Reduces the Age Advantages in Emotional Experience of Older Adults: Commentary on Carstensen et al. (2020)

2021 ◽  
pp. 095679762110524
Author(s):  
Rui Sun ◽  
Disa Sauter
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Older Age ◽  
Unavoidable Stress ◽  
Scale Test ◽  
Using Data

Older age is characterized by more positive and less negative emotional experience. Recent work by Carstensen et al. (2020) demonstrated that the age advantages in emotional experience have persisted during the COVID-19 pandemic. In two studies, we replicated and extended this work. In Study 1, we conducted a large-scale test of the robustness of Carstensen and colleagues’ findings using data from 23,350 participants in 63 countries. Our results confirm that age advantages in emotions have persisted during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Study 2, we directly compared the age advantages before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in a within-participants study ( N = 4,370). We found that the age advantages in emotions decreased during the pandemic. These findings are consistent with theoretical proposals that the age advantages reflect older adults’ ability to avoid situations that are likely to cause negative emotions, which is challenging under conditions of sustained unavoidable stress.

Maternal and paternal unsupportive parenting and children's externalizing symptoms: The mediational role of children's attention biases to negative emotion

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Patrick T. Davies ◽  
Morgan J. Thompson ◽  
Jesse L. Coe ◽  
Melissa L. Sturge-Apple
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Psychopathology ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Externalizing Symptoms ◽  
Family Adversity ◽  
Children's Attention ◽  
Specific Association ◽  
Mediational Role ◽  
And Behavior

Abstract This study examined children's duration of attention to negative emotions (i.e., anger, sadness, fear) as a mediator of associations among maternal and paternal unsupportive parenting and children's externalizing symptoms in a sample of 240 mothers, fathers, and their preschool children (Mage = 4.64 years). The multimethod, multi-informant design consisted of three annual measurement occasions. Analysis of maternal and paternal unsupportive parenting as predictors in latent difference changes in children's affect-biased attention and behavior problems indicated that children's attention to negative emotions mediated the specific association between maternal unsupportive parenting and children's subsequent increases in externalizing symptoms. Maternal unsupportive parenting at Wave 1 predicted decreases in children's attention to negative facial expressions of adults from Wave 1 to 2. Reductions in children's attention to negative emotion, in turn, predicted increases in their externalizing symptoms from Wave 1 to 3. Additional tests of children's fearful distress and hostile responses to parental conflict as explanatory mechanisms revealed that increases in children's fearful distress reactivity from Wave 1 to 2 accounted for the association between maternal unsupportive parenting and concomitant decreases in their attention to negative emotions. Results are discussed in the context of information processing models of family adversity and developmental psychopathology.

scholarly journals The Impact of Memory Change on Everyday Life Among Older Adults: Association with Cognition and Self-Reported Memory

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Komal T. Shaikh ◽  
Erica L. Tatham ◽  
Susan Vandermorris ◽  
Theone Paterson ◽  
Kathryn Stokes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
Everyday Functioning ◽  
Positive Coping ◽  
Memory Change ◽  
Lifestyle Activities ◽  
The Impact ◽  
With Memory

Abstract Objectives: Many older adults experience memory changes that can have a meaningful impact on their everyday lives, such as restrictions to lifestyle activities and negative emotions. Older adults also report a variety of positive coping responses that help them manage these changes. The purpose of this study was to determine how objective cognitive performance and self-reported memory are related to the everyday impact of memory change. Methods: We examined these associations in a sample of 94 older adults (age 60–89, 52% female) along a cognitive ability continuum from normal cognition to mild cognitive impairment. Results: Correlational analyses revealed that greater restrictions to lifestyle activities (|rs| = .36–.66), more negative emotion associated with memory change (|rs| = .27–.76), and an overall greater burden of memory change on everyday living (|rs| = .28–.61) were associated with poorer objective memory performance and lower self-reported memory ability and satisfaction. Performance on objective measures of executive attention was unrelated to the impact of memory change. Self-reported strategy use was positively related to positive coping with memory change (|r| = .26), but self-reported strategy use was associated with more negative emotions regarding memory change (|r| = .23). Conclusions: Given the prevalence of memory complaints among older adults, it is important to understand the experience of memory change and its impact on everyday functioning in order to develop services that target the specific needs of this population.

Physical Distancing and Social Media Use in Emerging and Older Adults During COVID-19: Large Scale Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Survey Study (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thabo J van Woudenberg ◽  
Roy Hendrikx ◽  
Moniek Buijzen ◽  
Julia CM van Weert ◽  
Bas van den Putte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Longitudinal Survey ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Random Intercept ◽  
Social Media Platforms

BACKGROUND Although emerging adults play a role in the spread of COVID-19, they are less likely to develop severe symptoms after infection. Emerging adults’ relatively high use of social media as source of information raises concerns regarding COVID-19 related behavioral compliance (i.e., physical distancing) in this age group. OBJECTIVE Therefore, the current study investigated physical distancing in emerging adults in comparison to older adults and looked at the role of using social media for COVID-19 news and information in this regard. In addition, this study explored the relation between physical distancing and different social media platforms and sources. METHODS Secondary data of a large-scale national longitudinal survey (N = 123,848, 34.% male) between April and November 2020 were used. Participants indicated, ranging for one to eight waves, how often they were successful in keeping 1.5 meters distance on a 7-point Likert scale. Participants between 18 and 24 years old were considered young adults and older participants were identified as older adults. Also, a dummy variable was created to indicate per wave whether participants used social media for COVID-19 news and information. A subset received follow-up questions asking participants to indicate which platforms they have used and what sources of news and information they had seen on social media. All preregistered hypotheses were tested with Linear Mixed-Effects Models and Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models. RESULTS Emerging adults reported less physical distancing behaviors than older adults (b = -.08, t(86213.83) = -26.79, p < .001). Also, emerging adults were more likely to use social media for COVID-19 news and information (b = 2.48, SE = .11, Wald = 23.66, p = <.001), which mediated the association with physical distancing, but only to a small extend (indirect effect: b = -0.03, 95% CI = [-0.04; -0.02]). Opposed to our hypothesis, the longitudinal Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model showed no evidence that physical distancing was predicted by social media use of the previous wave. However, we did find evidence that using social media affected subsequent physical distancing behavior. Moreover, additional analyses showed that most social media platforms (i.e., YouTube, Facebook and Instagram) and interpersonal communication showed negative associations with physical distancing while others platforms (i.e. LinkedIn and Twitter) and Governmental messages showed no to a slightly positive associations with physical distancing. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, we should be vigilant for physical distancing of emerging adults, but this study give no reason the to worry about the role of social media for COVID-19 news and information. However, as some social media platforms and sources showed negative associations, future studies should more carefully look into these factors to better understand the associations between social media use for news and information, and behavioral interventions in times of crisis.

scholarly journals Emotion Goals: What Do Sexual Offenders Want to Feel?

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (15-16) ◽  
pp. 2611-2629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Garofalo ◽  
Belén López-Pérez ◽  
Michaela Gummerum ◽  
Yaniv Hanoch ◽  
Maya Tamir
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Sexual Offenders ◽  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
The Other ◽  
Limited Data ◽  
Perceived Utility ◽  
Emotional Dysfunction

Sexual offenders typically experience more negative emotions and greater difficulties in regulating emotions than non-offenders. However, limited data exist on what sexual offenders want to feel (i.e., their emotion goals). Notably, emotion goals play a key role in emotion regulation and contribute to emotional experience. The present study tested whether sexual offenders ( N = 31) reported higher scores for negative emotion goals and lower scores for positive emotion goals, compared with general offenders ( N = 26) and non-offenders ( N = 26). In addition, we tested whether sexual offenders differed from the other two groups in their perceived pleasantness and perceived utility of emotions. Sexual offenders reported greater scores for the emotion goal of sadness, and lower scores for the emotion goal of excitement, compared with both general offenders and non-offenders. State and trait levels of these emotions could not fully account for these differences. Furthermore, sexual offenders reported lower perceived pleasantness for sadness than general offenders and lower perceived pleasantness for excitement compared with both other groups. Finally, sexual offenders reported greater perceived utility of sadness than non-offenders. These novel findings and their implications for research and interventions are discussed in the context of sexual offenders’ emotional dysfunction.

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.

The Moderating Role of Age-Group Identification and Perceived Threat on Stereotype Threat among Older Adults

2009 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia K. Kang ◽  
Alison L. Chasteen
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Stereotype Threat ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Group Identification ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Affective Consequences

Although research has shown that older adults are negatively affected by aging stereotypes, relatively few studies have attempted to identify those older adults who may be especially susceptible to these effects. The current research takes steps toward identifying older adults most susceptible to the effects of stereotype threat and investigates the consequence of stereotype threat on the well-being of older adults. Older adults were tested on their recall of a prose passage under normal or stereotype threatening conditions. Memory decrements for those in the threat condition were moderated by perceived stereotype threat such that greater decrements were seen for those who reported greater perceived threat. A similar pattern was observed for negative emotion, such that those in the threat condition who reported higher perceptions of threat experienced a greater decrease in positive emotions. Age group identification also proved to be an important factor, with the strongly identified performing worse than the weakly identified. As well, high age-group identification buffered some of the negative affective consequences associated with stereotype threat, which is consistent with some models of coping with stigma.

How emotions affect restaurant digital ordering experiences: a comparison of three ordering methods

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xi Y. Leung ◽  
Han Wen
Keyword(s):  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Restaurant Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Expectancy Disconfirmation ◽  
Quick Service ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the role of consumption emotion in the digital food-ordering experience by comparing the performances of the three digital ordering methods in an experimental design. Design/methodology/approach A research model was developed based on the Feelings-as-Information (FaI) theory and the expectancy-disconfirmation theory. A 3 × 2 between-subjects lab experiment was conducted to compare the three digital ordering methods (online, mobile or chatbot) in two different types of restaurants (quick-service or full-service). Findings The results indicate that the chatbot ordering method evoked more negative emotions and less positive emotions than the other two methods. The online ordering method worked the best for quick-service restaurants, whereas the mobile ordering method was most suitable for full-service restaurants. Both positive and negative emotions (comfort and annoyance) significantly mediated the relationships between the ordering method and internal responses (satisfaction and behavioral intention). Only one negative emotion (anger) significantly mediated the relationship between the ordering method and order amount. Originality/value This is the first study that attempts to explore and compare consumers’ emotional responses resulting from restaurant digital ordering experiences in the context of the three food-ordering methods. The use of the FaI theory strengthens the theoretical foundation of research on emotion in the hospitality field. This study also pioneers the application of chatbot technology in the restaurant industry.

scholarly journals Emotion regulation of social exclusion: a cross-cultural study

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenhong He ◽  
Nils Muhlert ◽  
Rebecca Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Emotional Reaction ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Passive Viewing ◽  
Picture Presentation

AbstractSocial exclusion is harmful to basic human needs. Emotion regulation represents a potential coping strategy. As culture can influence how people react and regulate their emotions, this study examined whether emotional reaction and regulation in response to social exclusion differ between individualistic and collectivistic cultures. A total of 80 college students, half White (n = 40, recruited in Manchester, UK) and half East Asian (n = 40, recruited in Shenzhen, China) viewed social exclusion pictures expressed by same-race or other-race characters. Both groups of participants viewed these pictures under no-reappraisal (passive viewing) and reappraisal (reinterpretation) conditions. Participants rated their vicarious negative emotional experience after each picture presentation. Results showed that both White and East Asian participants expressed greater negative emotion and showed stronger emotion regulation effects when facing own-race social exclusion, i.e., the “own-race bias”. In addition, White participants were more capable of regulating the negative emotions elicited by social exclusion compared to East Asian participants. Findings highlight the importance of considering the role of culture in emotional reaction to and emotion regulation of social exclusion, which may help the development of appropriate interventions across diverse populations.

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