Age Differences in Awe Among Young, Middle-aged, and Older Adults: Extensions of Socioemotional Selectivity Theory

Increases in motivation for the pursuit of emotionally meaningful goals and activities as people age (socioemotional selectivity theory; SST) necessitates the investigation of means in which these goals and activities can be realized. In the present study adults (N = 130) aged 25 to 78 (M = 53.32; SD = 15.181) watched awe-inducing (view of space) and happiness-inducing (comedian Robin Williams interacting with Koko the “talking gorilla”) videos and then completed measures associated with awe, affect, and well-being (measured via PGC Positive and Negative Affect Scales). Analyses of Variance (ANOVAs) were conducted to examine the effect of age (split by young, middle-aged, and older) on experiences of awe and positive affect in response to watching each video. There was a main effect of age on experiences of awe for both videos (ps < 05). Specifically, older adults experienced significantly higher levels of awe than young adults (p < .05) in response to video 1. They also experienced significantly higher levels of awe than young adults (p < .01) in response to video 2. Bivariate correlations among awe, well-being, and happiness were similar in strength and magnitude in each age group (ps < .05). Overall, consistent with Socioemotional Selectivity Theory, our findings suggest that affective reactions of awe and happiness, induced by videos, relate to well-being across age-groups. Future work should test whether the use of these awe-inducing videos can improve well-being.

What Do Introduction to Psychology Textbooks Have to Say About Older Adults?

Introduction to Psychology is one of the most popular undergraduate courses, an entry course for psychology majors and also popular with students from other disciplines. Consequently, the content in introductory psychology textbooks has the potential to influence undergraduates’ knowledge, attitudes, and interests, including those related to aging. The purpose of this study was to analyze aging-related content in introductory psychology textbooks to understand the topics to which students are exposed in this important course. We analyzed the indices of 21 best-selling Introduction to Psychology textbooks for both advanced and intermediate audiences, published between 2018 and 2020. We extracted and aggregated 275 unique, aging-specific index terms from the textbooks and analyzed their relative frequency. We identified 61 superordinate index terms corresponding to general terms (e.g., “aging,” “death”). The indices also included 214 unique subordinate terms that were more specific (e.g., “aging, and cognition”). Across textbooks, the most frequent topics reflected negative consequences of aging (e.g., “Alzheimer disease” = appeared in 100% of textbooks, “death” in 52%). In contrast, positive aspects of aging appeared less often (e.g., “generativity” in 47%, “longevity” in 10%). Terms describing career opportunities were rare (e.g., “gerontology” in 5%, “geropsychology” in 5%), as were modern theories (e.g., “socioemotional selectivity theory” in 28%). Advocacy for comprehensive and balanced representation of aging in introductory psychology textbooks is critical for educating students and promoting interest in the field.

Motivational Processes in Emotional Aging

This chapter considers the role of motivation in emotion-cognition links and how goals may relate to age differences (and similarities) in emotion regulation. Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) posits that, as their future time perspective shrinks, older adults become more motivated to prioritize their emotional well-being and exhibit “positivity effects” in attention and memory. After reviewing basic evidence on age-related positivity effects, the chapter turns to studies that have attempted to highlight the role of goals specifically in contributing to age-related positivity effects. While some studies suggest that goals are important in producing age differences in emotion-cognition links, others have not found support for clear links to goals. The chapter considers these mixed findings in the context of recent work suggesting fewer age differences in emotion regulation than might be expected, as well as presents goals other than emotion regulation that may drive age differences in cognition.

Beyond Stereotypes: Using Socioemotional Selectivity Theory to Improve Messaging to Older Adults

The tremendous heterogeneity in functional and demographic characteristics of the over-65 age group presents challenges to effective marketing and public-health communications. Messages grounded on tacit assumptions that older people are frail, incompetent, and needy risk being overlooked by most of the older population; on the other hand, ignoring age-associated vulnerabilities is problematic. We argue that although traditional approaches to market segmentation based on chronological age often fail, reliable age differences in motivation influence the types of information that older people typically prefer, attend to, and remember, and these differences can be used to inform communication efforts. Socioemotional selectivity theory maintains that as future time horizons grow limited—as they typically do with age—emotional goals are prioritized over goals that focus on exploration. As time left becomes more limited, positive messages are remembered better than negative ones, and products that help people savor the moment are preferred over those that benefit the long-term future. In addition, emphasizing individual strengths and personal resilience is likely to be especially appealing to older people.

Inhibitory control and its relationship to positivity biases in older adults

Older adults tend to focus on positive information over negative information; a phenomenon commonly referred to as the ‘positivity effect’. Socioemotional Selectivity Theory posits that this effect stems from age-related shifts in goals and relies heavily on the active suppression of negative information. The current study tested the hypothesis that inhibitory control is a key determinant of positivity biases in older adults using anti-saccade and recognition memory tasks. Results indicated a significant correlation between levels of inhibitory control and the positivity effect. These findings highlight the key role played by inhibitory control in determining positivity biases amongst older adults.

Older Adults’ Adaptations to the Call for Social Distancing and Use of Technology: Insights From Socioemotional Selectivity Theory and Lived Experiences

Social distancing guidelines during COVID can be isolating, especially for older adults, with potential for poor health outcomes. Technology offers opportunities for remote connection, yet, older adults’ use of and perspectives on technology during this time remain largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into older adults’ technology use and preferences to inform the development of a technology training intervention to support older adult well-being. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 older adults. Interviews were analyzed using an iterative, constant comparison approach. Findings were consistent with Socioemotional Selectivity Theory; respondents were primarily interested in technology to support emotionally meaningful goals. Participants indicated limited interest in technology training, referencing diminished future time perspectives to explain disinterest. Findings suggest that efforts to encourage older adults’ expanded technology adoption should highlight how use supports emotionally meaningful goals and provide low-effort, timely training, tied to specific and clear applications.

Social selectivity in aging wild chimpanzees

Humans prioritize close, positive relationships during aging, and socioemotional selectivity theory proposes that this shift causally depends on capacities for thinking about personal future time horizons. To examine this theory, we tested for key elements of human social aging in longitudinal data on wild chimpanzees. Aging male chimpanzees have more mutual friendships characterized by high, equitable investment, whereas younger males have more one-sided relationships. Older males are more likely to be alone, but they also socialize more with important social partners. Further, males show a relative shift from more agonistic interactions to more positive, affiliative interactions over their life span. Our findings indicate that social selectivity can emerge in the absence of complex future-oriented cognition, and they provide an evolutionary context for patterns of social aging in humans.