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Emotional experience improves with age: Evidence based on over 10 years of experience sampling
Open accessAbstract
Recent evidence suggests that emotional well-being improves from early adulthood to old age. This study used experience-sampling to examine the developmental course of emotional experience in a representative sample of adults spanning early to very late adulthood. Participants (N = 184, Wave 1; N = 191, Wave 2; N = 178, Wave 3) reported their emotional states at five randomly selected times each day for a one week period. Using a measurement burst design, the one-week sampling procedure was repeated five and then ten years later. Cross-sectional and growth curve analyses indicate that aging is associated with more positive overall emotional well-being, with greater emotional stability and with more complexity (as evidenced by greater co-occurrence of positive and negative emotions). These findings remained robust after accounting for other variables that may be related to emotional experience (personality, verbal fluency, physical health, and demographic variables). Finally, emotional experience predicted mortality; controlling for age, sex, and ethnicity, individuals who experienced relatively more positive than negative emotions in everyday life were more likely to have survived over a 13 year period. Findings are discussed in the theoretical context of socioemotional selectivity theory.
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“that show older people experience better emotion regulation than younger adults (e.g. Carstensen et al., 2011).”
From Behind the masks: A cross-sectional study on intolerance of uncertainty, perceived vulnerability to disease and psychological flexibility in relation to state anxiety and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021) · cites this paper as Carstensen et al., 2011
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Metadata
- Authors
- Carstensen, L. L., Turan, B., Scheibe, S., Ram, N., Ersner-Hershfield, H., Samanez-Larkin, G. R., Brooks, K. P., & Nesselroade, J. R.
- Affiliations
- Stanford University (US)
- Northwestern University (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- University of Virginia (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Psychology and Aging
- Published
- 2011
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 21-33
- ISSN
- 0882-7974 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1498
- PMC
- PMC3332527
- OpenAlex
- W2104396432
- Cited by
- 1,223
- References
- 81
- Citations by year
- 2026: 65 · 2025: 68 · 2024: 65 · 2023: 91 · 2022: 89 · 2021: 120 · 2020: 108 · 2019: 92 · 2018: 72 · 2017: 76 · 2016: 98 · 2015: 95 · 2014: 74 · 2013: 53 · 2012: 44
- FWCI
- 44.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Psychology and Aging (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (AG008816, AG032804)
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH019391)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
- Keywords
- emotional experience, aging, emotional well-being, positive emotions, negative emotions, emotional stability, emotional complexity, socioemotional selectivity theory, mortality, life course development
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Cross-Sectional Studies, Emotions, Female, Happiness, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Personality, Psychological Tests, Socioeconomic Factors, Young Adult
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