Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine.
College of Nursing, Pennsylvania State University, State College.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2019 Feb 15;74(3):419-429. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbx116.
The current study examined the factor structure of emotional experience across adults 34-50, 51-65, and 66-84 year olds.
Participants (N = 2,022) were asked about 14 negative and 13 positive emotions across 8 days in the National Study of Daily Experiences II study. Factor analysis computed both inter-individual factors (between-person structure of emotional experience) and intra-individual factors (factors describing emotions in daily life) for each age group.
For inter-individual variation, one positive and one negative factor captured emotions experienced for the first two age groups, but the 66 to 84-year-old adults had an additional factor for anger. For intra-individual variation, two factors (fear and sadness; anger) captured negative emotions for the first two age groups. The oldest age group had three negative factors: fear; anger (with additional sadness emotions); and sadness. Four factors captured positive emotions for the middle-aged groups and three for the oldest group; interpersonally oriented emotions (e.g. sense of belonging) were the primary sources of age differences.
Findings suggest that subtle age differences exist in the factor structure of daily emotional experience when comparing middle-aged and older adults.
本研究考察了 34-50 岁、51-65 岁和 66-84 岁成年人的情绪体验的因素结构。
在国家日常经验研究 II 中，参与者（N=2022）在 8 天内被问及 14 种负面情绪和 13 种正面情绪。因素分析分别计算了每个年龄组的个体间因素（情绪体验的个体间结构）和个体内因素（描述日常生活中情绪的因素）。
对于个体间变化，一个积极因素和一个消极因素捕捉了前两个年龄组的情绪体验，但 66 至 84 岁的成年人有一个额外的愤怒因素。对于个体内变化，两个因素（恐惧和悲伤；愤怒）捕捉了前两个年龄组的负面情绪。最年长的年龄组有三个负面因素：恐惧；愤怒（伴有额外的悲伤情绪）；悲伤。四个因素捕捉了中年组的积极情绪，三个因素捕捉了最年长组的积极情绪；人际导向情绪（如归属感）是年龄差异的主要来源。
研究结果表明，当比较中年和老年成年人时，日常情绪体验的因素结构存在微妙的年龄差异。
