Levine L J, Bluck S
Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine 92697-7085, USA.
Psychol Aging. 1997 Sep;12(3):514-23. doi: 10.1037//0882-7974.12.3.514.
After Ross Perot's abrupt withdrawal from the presidential race in July of 1992, supporters (n = 227) rated their initial emotional reactions and described their coping strategies. After the elections in November of 1992, supporters (n = 147) recalled their initial emotional reactions. In contrast to claims that subjective emotional intensity decreases with age, older adults (71-84 years, M = 75) initially reported feeling just as sad, angry, and hopeful as middle-aged (46-70 years, M = 60) and younger adults (22-45 years, M = 37). Older adults were more likely than middle-age and younger adults to disengage from thwarted political goals, however. For those who maintained their original goal, memory for the intensity of past feelings of sadness decreased with age. These findings suggest that age differences in response to survey questions about emotional intensity may reflect changes in memory for past emotions, and changes in coping strategies, rather than the intensity of the older adults' emotional experience as it occurred.
1992年7月罗斯·佩罗突然退出总统竞选后，其支持者（n = 227）对自己最初的情绪反应进行了评分，并描述了他们的应对策略。1992年11月选举结束后，支持者（n = 147）回忆了他们最初的情绪反应。与主观情绪强度随年龄增长而降低的说法相反，老年人（71 - 84岁，平均年龄M = 75岁）最初报告称，他们和中年人（46 - 70岁，平均年龄M = 60岁）以及年轻人（22 - 45岁，平均年龄M = 37岁）一样感到悲伤、愤怒和充满希望。然而，与中年人和年轻人相比，老年人更有可能从受挫的政治目标中脱离出来。对于那些坚持原有目标的人来说，对过去悲伤情绪强度的记忆会随着年龄的增长而下降。这些发现表明，在回答有关情绪强度的调查问题时，年龄差异可能反映了对过去情绪记忆的变化以及应对策略的变化，而不是老年人情绪体验发生时的强度变化。
