Age-related and death-related differences in emotional complexity.

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine an aspect of emotional complexity as seen in covariation between retrospective judgments of positive and negative affects. We assume that individuals can experience positive affect independently of negative affect. Theories argue that emotional complexity increases in old age, but research shows mixed evidence. Additionally, emotional complexity has been shown to decrease in situations prevalent in old age, such as physical illness and disability. Integrating distinct effects of age and distance to death, we propose that emotional complexity may remain intact or even increase in old age, and yet it decreases in light of functional deterioration shortly before death. The current research examined whether emotional complexity decreases as a function of subjective perception of closeness to death (subjective survival probability) or actual closeness to death. We used 3 large-scale databases: 2 cross-sectional (SHARE, N = 17,437, mean age = 64; HRS, N = 6,032, mean age = 67) and 1 longitudinal (CALAS, N = 1,310, mean age at baseline = 83). Hierarchical multiple regressions and multilevel models showed that respondents who perceived themselves as closer to death or were actually closer to death showed lower emotional complexity (a stronger negative correlation between positive and negative affects). Age and emotional complexity were unrelated or positively related, depending on the sample. Findings remained the same after controlling for demographic characteristics, as well as physical and cognitive functioning. The results indicate that both subjective and objective closeness to death are associated with lower emotional complexity. This death-related decrease in emotional complexity is discussed within current theories of aging.

Emotional complexity and its effect on psychological distress as a function of chronological age and subjective distance-to-death

“…The former finding is in line with most of the previous studies that generally failed to find an association between age and various measures of emotional complexity (Gr€ uhn et al, 2013;Ong & Bergeman, 2004;Palgi et al, 2014;Ready et al, 2008, study 1;Ready et al, 2012). The latter finding accords with the multi-sample study that found a decreased co-occurrence of retrospective ratings of PA and NA among those perceiving death as close .…”

“…Covariates included gender, education [ranging on a scale from 0 (no formal education) to 5 (academic education)], marital status, and subjective health, as these were found to be related to age and subjective DtD (Griffin, Loh, & Hesketh, 2013;Palgi et al, 2014;Shrira et al, 2014), and we were interested in examining the effects of age and subjective DtD after adjusting for possible effects of other background characteristics. Subjective health was assessed with a single question ('As a whole, how do you rate your health?…”

“…As subjective perception of approaching death is related to objective DtD (Kotter-Gr€ uhn, Gr€ uhn, & Smith, 2010), self-perception that the time left to live is short may generate processes related to actual closeness of death. Accordingly, across two cross-sectional samples and another three-wave sample, Palgi et al (2014) found that emotional co-occurrence was negatively related to both objective and subjective DtD, but was less associated with age. It seems that perceiving death as close was related to a decreased emotional complexity.…”

“…Although emotional complexity is considered an important indicator of adaptive emotion regulation and mental health among older adults (e.g., Labouvie-Vief & Medler, 2002), there are inconsistent findings regarding the associations between emotional complexity, age, and mental health (Gr€ uhn et al, 2013). In light of recent works suggesting that objective and subjective distance-to-death (DtD) may better capture developmental changes in affect than chronological age (Gerstorf et al, 2010;Palgi et al, 2014), this study goes beyond previous studies which have mostly focused on the relationship between chronological age and emotional complexity, and aims to examine emotional complexity as a function of both chronological age and subjective DtD. The study further aims to shed light on the existing inconsistent evidence regarding the relationship between emotional complexity and psychological distress.…”

Inter- and intra-individual variation in emotional complexity: methodological considerations and theoretical implications

“…In particular, core deficits in informaton processing, including higher levels of cognitive simplicity [42, 40], neuroticsm [25, 23], hostility [45] and lower levels of mood clarity [43], trait PA [57], psychological resilience [47], and subjective perceptions of approaching death [58] have all been implicated as factors that increase vulnerability to affective simplification during times of stress. Overall, the available evidence suggests that individual differences, especially those that have relevance for differentiation of emotional experience, warrant further investigation as potential moderators of the interplay between PA and NA.…”