Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.
Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA.
Exp Aging Res. 2024 Oct-Dec;50(5):652-677. doi: 10.1080/0361073X.2023.2254659. Epub 2023 Sep 10.
A lifetime of resilience through emotionally challenging experiences may benefit older adults, lending to emotion regulation mastery with time. Yet the influence of autobiographical experiences on momentary reappraisal, the reinterpretation of negative stimuli as more positive, has never been empirically tested. This online study examined the extent to which associating life memories of resilience with novel negative scenarios enhanced reappraisal efficacy and reduced difficulty to reappraise. Younger and older adults reappraised negative images by associating reappraisals to freely selected autobiographical resilience memories, cued autobiographical resilience memories, or by finding situational silver linings without mnemonic association (control). Changes in image emotional intensity ratings revealed no difference across reappraisal conditions for younger adults, while older adults most effectively down-regulated emotional intensity using the control reappraisal strategy. Older adults found autobiographical memories more helpful for mood regulation and less difficult to implement, and identified greater similarities between novel negative scenarios and their memories than younger adults. Surprisingly, greater similarity between resilience memories and negative images was associated with lower reappraisal efficacy for both age groups. Findings demonstrate the age-equivalent benefits of utilizing reappraisals associated with past narratives of resilience and suggest a sacrifice of immediate hedonic benefit for disproportionately greater subjective benefits with age.
通过情感挑战经历获得的终身适应力可能对老年人有益，随着时间的推移，有助于情绪调节能力的提高。然而，自传体经历对即时重新评价的影响，即将负面刺激重新解释为更积极的影响，从未经过实证检验。这项在线研究考察了将生活中的适应力记忆与新的负面情景联系起来，是否能增强重新评价的效果，降低重新评价的难度。年轻和年长的成年人通过将重新评价与自由选择的自传体适应力记忆、提示的自传体适应力记忆或通过不使用记忆联想找到情境中的一线希望（对照）来重新评价负面图像。图像情绪强度评分的变化表明，年轻成年人在重新评价条件之间没有差异，而年长成年人使用对照重新评价策略最有效地调节了情绪强度。年长成年人发现自传体记忆对情绪调节更有帮助，也更容易实施，并且比年轻成年人更能识别出新的负面情景与他们的记忆之间的相似之处。令人惊讶的是，适应力记忆与负面图像之间的相似性越大，两个年龄组的重新评价效果越低。研究结果表明，利用与过去的适应力叙述相关的重新评价具有与年龄相当的益处，并表明随着年龄的增长，为了获得不成比例的更大的主观益处，牺牲了即时的享乐益处。
