Behaviours
Emmanuel Tsekleves, Rachel Cooper in Design for Health, 2017
The relation between ageing and systems 1 and 2 has been evidenced in several studies. Age seems to be unequivocally linked to a decline of deliberative skills due to a less effective information processing (Salthouse, 1992), learning deficit (Kausler, 1990), inability to filter out irrelevant or false information (Hasher and Zacks, 1988), deterioration of the executive functions (Amieva et al., 2003) and numeracy skills (Kirsh et al., 2002). Less clear are the effects of ageing on the affective system. The most significant theoretical contribution explaining the role of emotions in decision-making among older adults is the socioemotional selectivity theory (Carstensen, 2006). This perspective argues that older adults are more aware of their nearing end of life and consequently they rely more heavily on the affective system in order to achieve positive outcomes. Studies have provided evidence that greater recall of positive advertisements and of emotion-laden information take place among older people (Carstensen and Turk- , 1994; Carstensen, 1993).
Older Women’s Mental Health
Kathleen A. Kendall-Tackett, Lesia M. Ruglass in Women’s Mental Health Across the Lifespan, 2017
While the cumulative advantage/disadvantage theory focuses on how gendered disadvantages accumulate over time, several other theories direct attention to how social relationships in old age contextualize older women’s mental health. For example, the life course perspective brings up how interactions with significant others, in addition to the environment that individuals have been exposed to across the life course, their own choices over the life course, and early life experiences, shape the heterogeneity of aging experiences (Elder & Johnson, 2003). Moreover, as suggested by the socioemotional selectivity theory, when people get older, time is regarded as limited and thus people are more selective about their social relationships and concentrate on important, rewarding, and meaningful ones; consequently, intimate and important relationships such as those with family members are more central to older adults and thus have more psychological consequences (Carstensen, Fung, & Charles, 2003).
Aging Gracefully A Global Perspective
K. Rao Poduri in Geriatric Rehabilitation, 2017
In conclusion, information technology revolution in the recent years has an impact, in that older adults feel left out. The people in their 20s and 30s are at the center of the information age and the effect of the information age on the older adults also may dictate the view on how they perceive themselves. To combat the various deficits such as mobility difficulties, social isolation, and loneliness that accompany older adults, Technologies for Aging Gracefully lab (TAGlab) was formed in 200914 and their mission is to enable full participation in society by individuals with special needs. As the older adults outnumber the youth, they face several challenges that may include maintaining self-esteem, coping with vulnerability,15 and preparing for retirement. Socioemotional selectivity theory says that older adults invest greater resources in emotionally meaningful activities and focus on positivity than negativity. These attitudes in turn may help to cope with age-related social and health issues and aim toward aging gracefully.
Social Contact, Emotional Support, and Anxiety during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Older Adults with Chronic Conditions
Published in Clinical Gerontologist, 2022
Sadie M. Shattuck, Diarratou Kaba, Annie N. Zhou, Courtney A. Polenick
Socioemotional selectivity theory proposes as people age, they become increasingly motivated to maintain close social ties (Charles & Carstensen, 2010). Consequently, social contact and emotional support may be more critical to managing anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic for older people (Birditt, Turkelson, Fingerman, Polenick, & Oya, 2020; Van Orden et al., 2020). Alternatively, social contact and emotional support may be less consequential among older adults because of their enhanced capacity for coping during crises. Perhaps in part due to past experiences with other crises, older individuals have demonstrated better coping during the pandemic (Birditt et al., 2020; Carstensen, Shavit, & Barnes, 2020). Previous theoretical and empirical work suggest the importance of understanding whether social contact and emotional support are more strongly associated with lower anxiety symptoms among older than younger individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. This knowledge would provide insight into targeted interventions and preventative measures to reduce anxiety among adults aged 50 and older who are living chronic conditions during the current pandemic and in future public health crises.
An examination of objective social disconnectedness and perceived social isolation among persons with spinal cord injury/dysfunction: a descriptive cross-sectional study
Published in Disability and Rehabilitation, 2021
Sara J. T. Guilcher, B. Catharine Craven, Rebecca L. Bassett-Gunter, Stephanie R. Cimino, Sander L. Hitzig
Interestingly, the smaller but quality networks align with age-related changes identified in aging adults [43]. Older adults tend to shift priorities and time towards interactions with smaller and closer personal network members who provide meaningful interactions and sense of belonging [43,44]. The socioemotional selectivity theory suggests that as people age, time remaining in life is perceived to be shorter, and their goals change to be more focused on emotional meaning and closer connections [45]. Aligned with this theory, older adults gain more positive emotional and health-related benefits interacting with close members of their social network compared with acquaintances [43,46]. Participants in the present study may demonstrate similar socioemotional selectivity in the composition of their networks and the allocation to whom their time is allocated. Further research is needed to explore this theory among persons with SCI/D as well as other populations with disability and the intersection of aging with a disability.
Emotional arousal deficit or emotional regulation bias? An electrophysiological study of age-related differences in emotion perception
Published in Experimental Aging Research, 2018
James R Houston, Joshua W Pollock, Mei-Ching Lien, Philip A Allen
When it comes to the issue of how cognition differs with age, there is considerable evidence to suggest that younger and older adults experience information differently beyond general age-associated performance deficits (e.g., Allen et al., 2001; Cerella, 1985; Salthouse, 2011; Verhaeghen, Vandenbroucke & Dierckx, 1998). However, age-related differences in emotional experiences are not typically framed in terms of dynamic interrelationships between cognitive and affective neural systems. Rather, it is more common for aging researchers to identify these adult age differences as reflective of a dynamic affective experience related to older adults’ conscious appraisal of their changing social environment and motivations. This type of approach is associated with the well-accepted socioemotional selectivity theory (SST). Put briefly, SST hypothesizes that the knowledge of diminishing longevity on the part of older adults creates a shift in the emotion-related goals that coincide with a preference for positively valenced emotional stimuli and away from negatively valenced emotional stimuli (Carstensen, Isaacowitz & Charles, 1999; Mather & Carstensen, 2005).
Related Knowledge Centers
- Amygdala
- Prefrontal Cortex
- Dot-Probe Paradigm
- Memory & Aging
- Negativity Bias
- Positivity Effect