Multidirectional age differences in anger and sadness.

Abstract

Age differences in anger and sadness were explored, focusing on the intensity and frequency of these experiences in everyday life and their implicit associations with the self. Ninety-six young and older adults participated in the Day Reconstruction Method, in which emotional experiences on a typical day were recorded, and in 2 implicit association tests assessing implicit self-concepts for anger and sadness. Older adults experienced anger less frequently and less intensively than young adults, but there were no age differences in sadness. In comparison with their younger counterparts, older adults showed a greater IAT effect in the implicit anger test, suggesting a weaker association between the self and anger, but there were no age differences in the implicit sadness test, suggesting age-invariant associations between the self and sadness. Together these findings suggest multidirectional age differences in negative affect and the usefulness of a discrete emotions approach for research interested in emotional aging.

Age differences in rumination and autobiographical retrieval

“…In young adulthood, rumination may be used to reflect on emotional conflicts and to extract learning from experiences. This function decreases in older adults Kunzmann & Thomas, 2014). The current research provides correlational support to this hypothesis as rumination was associated with specific autobiographical information in young participants but not in older adults.…”

Emotional aging: a discrete emotions perspective

“…Consistent with a discrete emotions perspective, older adults experienced anger less frequently and less intensively than young adults, but there were no age differences in the experience of sadness. Furthermore, this study provided initial evidence for the idea that anger, but not sadness, becomes less self-descriptive with age (Kunzmann and Thomas, 2014). …”

“…By contrast, the frequency of sadness remained stable over most of adulthood and increased in old age (Kunzmann et al, 2013). Extending this work, a recent study explored age differences in anger and sadness by focusing on the intensity and frequency of emotional experiences on a typical day and their implicit associations with participants' self (Kunzmann and Thomas, 2014). Consistent with a discrete emotions perspective, older adults experienced anger less frequently and less intensively than young adults, but there were no age differences in the experience of sadness.…”

Aging and emotions: experience, regulation, and perception

“…What is known, then, about discrete emotional states, such as sadness and anger? Age differences in self-reported experience appear to vary among these two emotional states, even though they are both negative in valence [6]. Whereas older adults report less frequent anger (similar to the overall pattern for negative affect), they also report more frequent sadness (different from the overall negative valence pattern).…”