TY - JOUR
T1 - Age differences in descriptions of emotional experiences in oneself and others
AU - Löckenhoff, Corinna E.
AU - Costa, Paul T.
AU - Lane, Richard D.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2008/3
Y1 - 2008/3
N2 - We analyzed language use to examine age differences in people's representations of their own emotions as compared with those of others. Participants (N = 365, aged 18-85 years, M = 42.8, SD = 19.2) read hypothetical emotion-eliciting scenarios and described how they themselves and the social partners involved in the scenarios would feel. Compared with those of younger adults, older adults' descriptions involved a higher frequency of positive and a lower frequency of negative emotions. Older adults were also more likely to describe a co-occurrence of positive and negative emotions, but less likely to describe the simultaneous experience of multiple negative emotions. Age effects showed similar patterns for participants' descriptions of their own emotions as compared with those of others. We discuss the implications for theoretical accounts of emotional aging.
AB - We analyzed language use to examine age differences in people's representations of their own emotions as compared with those of others. Participants (N = 365, aged 18-85 years, M = 42.8, SD = 19.2) read hypothetical emotion-eliciting scenarios and described how they themselves and the social partners involved in the scenarios would feel. Compared with those of younger adults, older adults' descriptions involved a higher frequency of positive and a lower frequency of negative emotions. Older adults were also more likely to describe a co-occurrence of positive and negative emotions, but less likely to describe the simultaneous experience of multiple negative emotions. Age effects showed similar patterns for participants' descriptions of their own emotions as compared with those of others. We discuss the implications for theoretical accounts of emotional aging.
KW - Age-related differences
KW - Emotional aging
KW - Emotional experience
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U2 - 10.1093/geronb/63.2.P92
DO - 10.1093/geronb/63.2.P92
M3 - Article
C2 - 18441270
AN - SCOPUS:43249094174
VL - 63
SP - P92-P99
JO - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
JF - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
SN - 1079-5014
IS - 2
ER -