Socioemotional selectivity theory and the regulation of emotion in the second half of life

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Plenum Publishing Corporation 2003

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Journal Article•DOI•

Abstract: Far more attention has been paid to emotion regulation in childhood than in adulthood and old age. However, a growing body of empirical research suggests that the emotion domain is largely spared from deleterious processes associated with aging and points instead to developmental gains in later life. By applying tenets from socioemotional selectivity theory, we attempt to explain the observed gains in terms of motivation. We argue that age is associated with increasing motivation to derive emotional meaning from life and decreasing motivation to expand one's horizons. These changes lead to age differences in social and environmental choices (consistent with antecedent emotion regulation), coping (consistent with response-focused regulation), and cognitive processing of positive and negative information (consistent with goal-directed attention and memory). Broader implications for life-span development are discussed.

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Abstract: Introduction Older lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults are often neglected in healthcare settings, despite increases in risk behaviors and substance use. The present study assessed drugged driving among older adults in the United States and investigated differences by sexual orientation. Methods The 2015–2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health data were analyzed among 43,238 adults aged 50 years or older. Associations between drugged driving and demographic information were examined using weighted logistic regression models. Results An estimated 4.82% (n = 2,120) of older adults drove under the influence of alcohol in the past year, 1.33% (n = 619) drove under the influence of marijuana in the past year, and 1.48% (n = 683) drove under the influence of illicit drugs in the past year. Compared to heterosexual counterparts, individuals who identified as a sexual minority were at increased risk for driving under the influence, with individuals who identified as bisexual nearly 4 times more likely to drive under the influence of marijuana (95% CI = 2.39, 6.51) and 4.5 times more likely to drive under the influence of illicit drugs (95% CI = 2.84, 7.08) within the past year. Conclusions Older LGB adults are at increased risk for drugged driving. Harm reduction efforts and behavioral interventions are currently warranted for healthcare improvement.

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TL;DR: It is found that change in network composition predicts an increase in social capital mobilization over time and network growth is found to reduce the affective resources that newcomers mobilize.

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Abstract: We investigate how differences in personal network development affect the mobilization of social capital for new organizational members. Analyzing three waves of panel data reported by 24 newcomers in nine organizations, we ask whether the kind and volume of resources derived by focal actors depends rather on changes in the composition or in the size of their intra-organizational networks. We find that change in network composition predicts an increase in social capital mobilization over time. Network growth is found to reduce the affective resources that newcomers mobilize. Implications for subsequent research and organizational socialization practices are discussed.

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Abstract: The present study examines the benefits of an in-person intergenerational contact program called SAGE (Successful Aging and Inter-Generational Experiences). The SAGE Program pairs older adults (M age 85 years) and younger adults (M age 23 years) for 2 to 3-hour weekly meetings over a 7-week period, where participants can share memories, skills, and values, and foster new perspectives and friendships. We expected the SAGE Program to benefit both older and younger participants with respect to identity processes, subjective well-being, positive mood, and wisdom while reducing ageist beliefs compared to old and young participants serving as their matched controls. Overall, participants in the SAGE Program reported greater identity synthesis,subjective well-being, and positive mood. Exploratory analyses suggested that identity synthesis is a likely mediator of that effect. The SAGE Program did not reduce ageist beliefs, but age differences in ageism were found. We address additional results,limitations, and future research directions.

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Book Chapter•DOI•

01 Jan 2009

Abstract: Personality has been found to be more strongly associated with subjective well-being in many instances than are life circumstances. In part, this might be due to the fact that temperament and other individual differences can influence people’s feelings and evaluations of their lives, but also because people’s emotions are an inherent part of personality. This chapter discusses the heritability of “happiness,” that portion of subjective well-being that is due to genetic differences between individuals. The stability of subjective well-being over time is substantial, and this is likely due in part to the stability of personality. Specific personality traits are related to various types of well-being. For example, extroversion appears to be more strongly related to positive emotions, while neuroticism is more related to negative feelings. Although personality is an important correlate of subjective well-being, situations and life circumstances can in some cases have a considerable influence as well. Furthermore, personality can to some degree change over time, and with it, levels of subjective well-being can change.

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TL;DR: Findings reveal that in their initial attention, older adults avoid negative information, consistent with older adults' generally better emotional well-being and their tendency to remember negative less well than positive information.

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Abstract: We examined age differences in attention to and memory for faces expressing sadness, anger, and happiness. Participants saw a pair of faces, one emotional and one neutral, and then a dot probe that appeared in the location of one of the faces. In two experiments, older adults responded faster to the dot if it was presented on the same side as a neutral face than if it was presented on the same side as a negative face. Younger adults did not exhibit this attentional bias. Interactions of age and valence were also found for memory for the faces, with older adults remembering positive better than negative faces. These findings reveal that in their initial attention, older adults avoid negative information. This attentional bias is consistent with older adults' generally better emotional well-being and their tendency to remember negative less well than positive information.

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Journal Article•DOI•

TL;DR: Age was associated with improved emotional experiences but only during reminiscing about positive experiences during mutual reminiscing, according to socioemotional selectivity theory and the literature on reminiscence and life review.

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Abstract: In the present article, the authors examined age differences in the emotional experiences involved in talking about past events. In Study 1, 129 adults in an experience-sampling study reported whether they were engaged in mutual reminiscing and their concurrent experience of positive and negative emotion. Their experiences of positive and negative emotion during mutual reminiscing were compared with emotional experience during other social activities. Age was associated with increasing positive emotion during mutual reminiscing. In Study 2 (n = 132), the authors examined emotions during reminiscing for specific positive and negative events. In this case, age was associated with improved emotional experiences but only during reminiscing about positive experiences. Findings are discussed in terms of socioemotional selectivity theory and the literature on reminiscence and life review.

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Journal Article•DOI•

TL;DR: The relative number of negative images compared with positive and neutral images recalled decreased with each successively older age group, and recognition memory showed a similar decrease with age in the relative memory advantage for negative pictures.

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Abstract: Two studies examined age differences in recall and recognition memory for positive, negative, and neutral stimuli. In Study 1, younger, middle-aged, and older adults were shown images on a computer screen and, after a distraction task, were asked first to recall as many as they could and then to identify previously shown images from a set of old and new ones. The relative number of negative images compared with positive and neutral images recalled decreased with each successively older age group. Recognition memory showed a similar decrease with age in the relative memory advantage for negative pictures. In Study 2, the largest age differences in recall and recognition accuracy were also for the negative images. Findings are consistent with socioemotional selectivity theory, which posits greater investment in emotion regulation with age.

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Abstract: Empirical tests of socioemotional selectivity theory support the contention that the developmental trend in adulthood to focus increasingly on fewer, but emotionally significant, social partners is associated positively with psychological well-being. Tenets of the theory, however, also suggest conditions in which selectivity could instead lead to an increase in negative emotional experiences. In particular, if the socioemotional world of the individual includes emotional distress, selective focus on emotions and close relationships may detract from rather than enhance well-being. In the current study, we examined selectivity and associated well-being in Holocaust survivors, Japanese-American internment camp survivors, and comparably-aged people who lived through World War II but did not experience major trauma. We predicted that selectivity would relate to positive mental health in all groups except the Holocaust survivors who, on average, experience elevated levels of negative affect and social networks that include other survivors also experiencing distress. Results generally supported these hypotheses, and are discussed in light of individual and group differences in socioemotional ageing, as well as the implications for the generality of social developmental theories of adaptive functioning.

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What does the socioemotional selectivity theory state?

How is human development and passage of time related to each other?

What is the meaning of socio emotional?