Emotion Regulation in Adulthood and Aging: Preference and Effectiveness

Northeastern University, Boston MA

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Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Older adults show positivity effects in their attention toward emotional stimuli; using stationary eye tracking, our past work has found that older adults fixate less on negative stimuli. More recent work with mobile eye tracking suggests that, in some cases, older adults may also select fewer negative situations to interact with than younger adults. There is also evidence that older adults are more effective at positive reappraisal than younger adults. These are three ways in which older adults may display more positivity in their processing of emotional information, and potentially their emotion regulation than do younger adults. While age-related positivity effects were originally conceptualized as part of Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (SST), they may also have implications for emotion regulation. The current application aims to empirically marry the SST-based approach to studying age-related positivity effects with the Process Model approach to studying emotion regulation, by examining age differences in positive forms of emotion regulation, such as positive looking and positive reappraisal. The application considers 2 questions: Are there are differences in preferences for different types of positive emotion regulation strategies, and are there are differences in the effectiveness of different positive emotion regulation strategies in terms of real-time mood change? Three studies will examine age differences in preferences and effectiveness of potentially positive emotion regulation strategies, from younger adulthood through midlife and into old age. Study 1 is a laboratory-based study that will investigate the rol of age in preferences for, and effectiveness of, the emotion regulation strategies specified in the Process Model: situation selection, situation modification, attentional deployment, cognitive change, and response modification. Study 2 will use experience sampling to investigate age differences in preferences for, and effectiveness of, these strategies in emotion regulation in everyday life. Study 3 will directly test whether shifting goals can account for age differences in the use and effectiveness of positive emotion regulation strategies. Findings will advance our understanding of aging and emotion regulation, and may suggest targets for intervention for those who are not able to regulate emotions successfully.