Anxiety-linked expectancy bias across the adult lifespan
Open accessAbstract
Anxiety is characterised by a negative expectancy bias, such that anxious individuals report negatively distorted expectations about the future. Contrary to anxiety, ageing is characterised by a positivity effect, such that ageing is associated with a tendency to attend to and remember positive information, relative to negative information. The current study integrates these literatures to examine anxiety- and age-linked biases when thinking about the future. Participants (N=1,109) completed a procedure that involved reading valenced scenarios (positive, negative, or ambiguous) and then rating the likelihood of future valenced events occurring. Results suggest that ageing and anxiety have independent and opposing effects. Heightened anxiety was associated with a reduced expectancy for positive events, regardless of the scenarios' current emotional valence, whereas increased age was associated with an inflated expectancy for positive events, which was strongest when individuals were processing socially relevant or negative scenarios.
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Some research suggests that, generally, expectancy for positive events increases with age.
“some research suggests that, generally, expectancy for positive events increases with age (Steinman et al., 2013).”
From Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of an internet-based CBT intervention for loneliness in older adults: A pilot RCT (2024) · cites this paper as Steinman et al., 2013
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- Authors
- Steinman, S. A., Smyth, F. L., Bucks, R. S., MacLeod, C., & Teachman, B. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Virginia (US)
- The University of Western Australia (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Steinman, Shari A.
- Venue
- Cognition & Emotion
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2013-02
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 345-355
- ISSN
- 0269-9931 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-0600
- PMC
- PMC3563758
- OpenAlex
- W2105231211
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 3.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Cognition & Emotion (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- UWA Profiles and Research Repository (UWA) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG033033)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Keywords
- anxiety, expectancy bias, positivity effect, aging, future expectations, emotional valence, lifespan development, social relevance
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Anxiety, Emotions, Female, Forecasting, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
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