RoseMary B. Fuss Center for Research on Aging and Intergenerational Studies, Lasell College, Newton, Massachusetts.
Department of Psychology, Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2014 Nov;69(6):892-6. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbt073. Epub 2013 Sep 27.
Although theorists acknowledge that beliefs about emotions may play a role in age-related emotion behavior, no research has explored these beliefs. This research examined beliefs about the experience and expression of emotions across the life span, especially across the adult years.
Younger and older adults rated the extent to which infants, children, adolescents, young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults were likely to experience and express a range of emotions.
Younger and older adults held similar beliefs about the course of emotions across the life span. Moreover, these beliefs differed across emotion categories. In particular, although older adults were believed to experience and express fewer highly charged, negative emotions, they were expected to be more likely to experience and express positive, low arousal emotions, as well as negative, low arousal emotions. The experience and expression of positive, high arousal emotions were seen as more characteristic of very young age groups as opposed to older age groups.
These findings beg questions about if and how beliefs about emotion may affect age-related emotion regulation strategies and other everyday emotion-focused behaviors, as well as social reactions to older adults observed experiencing and expressing particular types of emotions.
尽管理论家承认情绪信念可能在与年龄相关的情绪行为中发挥作用，但目前尚无研究探讨这些信念。本研究考察了对整个生命周期（尤其是成年期）的情绪体验和表达的信念。
年轻和年长的成年人对婴儿、儿童、青少年、年轻人、中年人和老年人体验和表达一系列情绪的可能性进行了评分。
年轻和年长的成年人对整个生命周期中情绪的发展持有相似的信念。此外，这些信念因情绪类别而异。特别是，尽管老年人被认为体验和表达的强烈负面情绪较少，但他们被期望更有可能体验和表达积极、低唤醒的情绪，以及消极、低唤醒的情绪。积极、高唤醒的情绪的体验和表达被认为更具有年轻年龄段的特征，而不是老年年龄段的特征。
这些发现提出了一些问题，即情绪信念是否以及如何影响与年龄相关的情绪调节策略和其他日常以情绪为中心的行为，以及对观察到的老年人体验和表达特定类型情绪的社会反应。
