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Emotion regulation includes multiple strategies that rely upon different underlying abilities, and that may be affected differently by aging. We assessed young, middle-aged, and older adults' ability to implement three emotion regulation strategies (detached reappraisal, positive reappraisal, and behavior suppression) in a laboratory setting, using standardized emotional stimuli and a multimethod approach to assessing regulation success. Results revealed age-related decline in ability to implement detached reappraisal, enhancement of ability to implement positive reappraisal, and maintenance of ability to implement behavior suppression. We discuss these findings in terms of their implications for emotion theory and for promoting successful aging. KeywordsAging; Emotion; Emotion Regulation; Psychophysiology; Reappraisal Emotion regulation has been defined as "the processes by which individuals influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express these emotions" (Gross, 1998b, p. 275). Whereas studies of cognitive and physical aging often emphasize decline (e.g., Salthouse, 2004), laboratory studies (e.g., Kunzmann, Kupperbusch, & Levenson, 2005), survey studies (e.g., Gross, Carstensen, Pasupathi, Tsai, Skorpen, & Hsu, 1997), and common wisdom all suggest that the ability to manage our emotions is maintained, perhaps even enhanced, throughout adulthood. These findings are augmented by studies of older adults' use of a few particular regulation strategies, such as avoiding unpleasant social situations (e.g., Coats & Blanchard-Fields, 2008), and problemsolving when facing a non-social stressor (e.g., Blanchard-Fields, 2007; Coats & BlanchardFields, 2008 Publisher's Disclaimer:The following manuscript is the final accepted manuscript. It has not been subjected to the final copyediting, fact-checking, and proofreading required for formal publication. It is not the definitive, publisher-authenticated version. The American Psychological Association and its Council of Editors disclaim any responsibility or liabilities for errors or omissions of this manuscript version, any version derived from this manuscript by NIH, or other third parties. The published version is available at www.apa.org/journals/pag NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptPsychol Aging. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 December 1. Published in final edited form as:Psychol Aging. 2009 December ; 24(4): 890-900. doi:10.1037/a0017896. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptEmotion regulation is not a single process, but rather a family of processes that rely upon different skills and produce different outcomes. As a result, various emotion regulation strategies may be affected differently by aging. Only a few strategies have been studied in this regard, and little research has addressed the effects of normal aging on several strategies studied extensively in young adults, including cognitive reappraisal and behavior suppression (e.g., Gross, 1998a;Gross, 2002;Gross & L...

Understanding positive emotions' shared and differentiating features can yield valuable insight into the structure of positive emotion space and identify emotion states, or aspects of emotion states, that are most relevant for particular psychological processes and outcomes. We report two studies that examined core relational themes (Study 1) and expressive displays (Study 2) for eight positive emotion constructs--amusement, awe, contentment, gratitude, interest, joy, love, and pride. Across studies, all eight emotions shared one quality: high positive valence. Distinctive core relational theme and expressive display patterns were found for four emotions--amusement, awe, interest, and pride. Gratitude was associated with a distinct core relational theme but not an expressive display. Joy and love were each associated with a distinct expressive display but their core relational themes also characterised pride and gratitude, respectively. Contentment was associated with a distinct expressive display but not a core relational theme. The implications of this work for the study of positive emotion are discussed.

Much research has found that positive affect facilitates increased reliance on heuristics in cognition. However, theories proposing distinct evolutionary fitness-enhancing functions for specific positive emotions also predict important differences among the consequences of different positive emotion states. Two experiments investigated how six positive emotions influenced the processing of persuasive messages. Using different methods to induce emotions and assess processing, we showed that the positive emotions of anticipatory enthusiasm, amusement, and attachment love tended to facilitate greater acceptance of weak persuasive messages (consistent with previous research), whereas the positive emotions of awe and nurturant love reduced persuasion by weak messages. In addition, a series of mediation analyses suggested that the effects distinguishing different positive emotions from a neutral control condition were best accounted for by different mediators rather than by one common mediator. These findings build upon approaches that link affective valence to certain types of processing, documenting emotion-specific effects on cognition that are consistent with functional evolutionary accounts of discrete positive emotions.Keywords: emotion, positive affect, evolutionary approaches, cognitive processing, persuasionImagine that you are watching a pleasant TV program. The program may be a travel show featuring awe-inspiring natural wonders or an animal program about a litter of puppies; it may be a sitcom that makes you laugh or an exciting sporting event. At some point during the program, you are likely to encounter a commercial message intended to persuade you. Given that any of these programs will elicit positive feelings, are you likely to process the persuasive message more carefully or more carelessly than if you felt no emotion at all?The answer to this question might initially appear simple: Much research already finds that positive affect leads people to process messages in a more heuristic or careless manner (e.g., Mackie & Worth, 1989;Schwarz & Bless, 1991; see Schwarz & Clore, 2007). In the present research, we demonstrate the complexity layered upon this general effect and address some of the mechanisms behind this complexity. Whereas traditional approaches have examined the influence of affective valence on cognition, our approach emphasizes differences among the likely evolutionary, fitness-enhancing functions of discrete emotions of the same valence and suggests that emotions of the same valence can have different consequences (Keltner, Ellsworth, & Edwards, 1994;Lerner & Keltner, 2000). Indeed, recent research has demonstrated that distinct negative emotions have emotion-specific influences on cognition (e.g., DeSteno, Petty, Rucker, Wegener, & Braverman, 2004;Lerner & Keltner, 2001;Mackie, Devos, & Smith, 2000). However, the question of how specific positive emotions might influence cognition has received far less attention (for notable exceptions, see Bartlett &DeSteno, 2006, andTiedens &Linton, 20...