Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
Cogn Emot. 2022 Jun;36(4):643-659. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2022.2050187. Epub 2022 Apr 2.
When managing their emotions, individuals often recruit the help of others; however, most emotion regulation research has focused on self-regulation. Theories of emotion and aging suggest younger and older adults differ in the emotion regulation strategies they use when regulating their own emotions. If how individuals regulate their own emotions and the emotions of others are related, these theorised age differences may also emerge for interpersonal emotion regulation. In two studies, younger and older adults' intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation strategy choices were examined via self-report and behavioural assessments of regulating the emotions of another participant (Study 1; N = 80) and of a virtual human (Study 2; N = 100). Across both studies, younger adults reported greater intrapersonal suppression but not greater reappraisal. Younger and older adults were generally similar (supported by Bayesian analyses) for both self-reported and behavioural interpersonal emotion regulation strategies. Behavioural interpersonal emotion regulation was not related to self-reported intra- and interpersonal preferences. These results suggest interpersonal emotion regulation in ageing may show distinct patterns from theorised age differences in intrapersonal emotion regulation.
在管理情绪时，个体通常会寻求他人的帮助；然而，大多数情绪调节研究都集中在自我调节上。情绪和衰老理论表明，年轻人和老年人在调节自己情绪时使用的情绪调节策略不同。如果个体调节自己情绪和他人情绪的方式存在关联，那么这种理论上的年龄差异也可能出现在人际情绪调节中。在两项研究中，通过自我报告和对另一名参与者（研究 1；N=80）和虚拟人（研究 2；N=100）的情绪调节的行为评估，考察了年轻人和老年人的内在和人际情绪调节策略选择。在两项研究中，年轻人报告说，内在抑制的情况更多，但重新评价的情况较少。年轻人和老年人在自我报告和行为人际情绪调节策略方面基本相似（贝叶斯分析支持）。行为人际情绪调节与自我报告的内在和人际偏好无关。这些结果表明，衰老过程中的人际情绪调节可能表现出与内在情绪调节的理论上的年龄差异不同的模式。
