Emotions in Later Adulthood: Age- and Aging-based Differences in Older Adult Affect

The emotional and affective experiences of older adults have historically appeared paradoxical to many researchers; amid age-based health declines, older adults have often been found to fare better affectively. After briefly reviewing different focal points of emotional responses (subjective, physiological/neurological, behavioral), the reader will be oriented to the importance of subjective emotional responses (e.g., calm, angry, and affective (positive affect, negative affect). Once terminology is defined, the current chapter reviews theoretical frameworks seeking to understand age-based differences in positive and negative emotions. Next, a variety of methodological approaches for affect research are discussed, such as experiments, intensive longitudinal and longitudinal designs, and measurement burst designs. After this foundation is set, we bridge the empirical literature on older age with long-term and short-term findings for positive affect negative affect; age-related differences in stress reactivity; and age-based findings on chronic stress and allostatic load. This review integrates points on how methodological differences may explain differences in findings (e.g., between-person, lab-based relative to within-person, longitudinal). Finally, the chapter concludes with a brief discussion of crucial future directions to bridge the gap between theory and, at times, contradictory empiricism.