Investigating mixed emotion elicitation across the life span via intensity and networks.

Although a relatively common concept in nonacademic spheres, mixed emotions are poorly understood in research. The literature suggests that, despite methodological difficulties, positive and negative states can be experienced together and have health-related implications. Yet, there is a need for additional work including investigations of in-the-moment manifestations and individual factors that lead to more or fewer mixed emotions. In this light, the present study seeks to clarify discord in the literature regarding age differences in mixed emotions using in-the-moment elicitation to evaluate the manifestation and dissipation of mixed emotions via assessments of intensity and emotion networks. We used a reactivity paradigm with a recovery period where participants watched a 4-minute clip from the film Life Is Beautiful (1997). Importantly, all participants experienced more mixed emotions after elicitation, which dissipated after a period of natural affect recovery, but older adults had a higher magnitude of changes in emotions overall. Moreover, emotion networks changed in a consistent manner for all age groups with more significant positive connections between positive and negative items after elicitation. Thus, mixed emotions can be effectively elicited across the life span, perhaps related to age. While additional work is needed to refine elicitation and mixed emotion network modeling, this evidence pushes mixed emotion research forward by extending theory and techniques for examining this underexplored phenomenon. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The Age-Related Positivity Effect and Emotion Regulation: Assessing Downstream Affective Outcomes.

While substantial literature suggests that positive preferences are in the service of emotion regulation pursuits, little evidence has directly linked positivity "processes" with well-being "outcomes." The current study examined age-related differences in negative gaze preferences and how such preferences are related to subsequent regulatory outcomes. Participants were 79 older adults and 72 younger adults. They first provided a baseline mood assessment, which was followed by a standardized emotional video clip for three minutes during which visual fixation preferences were recorded via an eye tracker. Mood was again assessed after the film, which was followed by a standardized video recovery task, and completion of a recovery mood measure. Older adults fixated less on negative portions of the emotional video clip relative to younger adults, indicative of an age-related positivity effect. The indirect effect of age on mood recovery through fixation was not supported.

Attentional Tendencies That Impact Emotion Regulation Success Within a Borderline Personality Disorder Framework.

Emotion regulation difficulties are key to borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptomatology. Literature indicates that attentional distraction, particularly within an interpersonal context, is common in BPD. Conversely, reappraisal tactics are less prevalent. The goal of the current study was to examine whether this discrepancy is observed when individuals reporting varying levels of BPD tendencies are given the choice of a preferred emotion regulation tactic when confronted with BPD-relevant stressors. Attentional engagement patterns, affective responses, and strategy success were also examined. Participants (N = 103) reported BPD tendencies as assessed by the Personality Assessment Inventory and were instructed to choose either to "distract" or to "reappraise" in response to affective images. Results revealed more instances of failing to implement distraction among individuals with higher BPD tendencies, which was also reflected in greater fixation biases to distressing content within those images. Results are discussed in terms of the malleability of emotion regulation in BPD contexts.

Age Differences in Reappraisal of Negative Autobiographical Memories.

Background: Past studies have been equivocal regarding age differences in reappraisal efficacy. Moreover, the use of laboratory-generated stimuli (e.g., images, film clips) may overestimate age differences. Instead, the use of self-relevant stimuli (e.g., autobiographical memory) may better represent the day-to-day implementation of reappraisal. Method: Younger and older adults generated 50 negative memories and provided negativity, positivity, and vividness ratings. One to two weeks later, participants underwent a reappraisal task during which physiological data were collected. Participants implemented one of the three instructions for 30 seconds: remember naturally, increase negative reactions, or decrease negative reactions via a "positivizing" tactic. Results: Prior to the regulation session, older adults rated all memories more positively than younger adults. No age differences in negativity or vividness ratings emerged. After regulation, older adults rated memories more positively, negatively, and vividly than younger adults. Physiological data suggest that reappraisal demands may have been more cognitively demanding for older adults. However, older adults reported higher negativity and positivity than younger adults. Conclusion: This challenges the existing theory regarding age and emotion regulation. We contend that reappraisal was achieved by younger and older adults; however, achievement may have emerged in slightly different ways.

Age similarities in matching pro- and contra-hedonic emotional strategies to everyday scenarios.

Older adults are motivated to maximize positive affect in the present. Young adults will purposely feel negative and high arousal emotions in order to achieve a goal. However, this type of contra-hedonic emotional alignment has not been extensively studied with older adults. We expected older adults are less likely than young adults to select high arousal and negative emotions within specific scenarios where those states could be useful. In two studies, participants selected the emotion they preferred in hypothetical problems that varied on the arousal and valence best suited for goal achievement. Young and older adults were equally likely to endorse affective strategies that matched both pro and contra-hedonic scenarios. While older adults may be generally motivated to avoid negative and high-arousing emotions, they are just as likely as young adults to indicate that these states could be helpful in certain situations.

Words matter: age-related positivity in episodic memory for abstract but not concrete words.

Research continues to assess potential boundary conditions for the age-related positivity effect in emotional information processing. Beyond the valence and arousal characteristics of a stimulus, other features may play a role in the manifestation of positivity effects. Differences between abstract and concrete words (i.e., the level of imageability, presence of affective content) may lead to differences in downstream processing outcomes. The present study examined whether additional features of word stimuli, beyond valence and arousal, could influence the emergence of age-related positivity in episodic memory. Fifty-two younger adults and 51 older adults completed a categorization task where they separated a series of positive, negative, and neutral words into "abstract" or "concrete" categories. A surprise recognition task followed after a short delay. Results revealed a three-way Age × Valence × Word Type interaction. No age differences in overall recognition was observed for concrete words, regardless of emotion; however, for abstract words, an Age × Valence interaction emerged whereby older adults recognized more positive than negative words, while valence differences were less pronounced among younger adults. Concrete words were remembered better than abstract words by both age groups, regardless of valence. Conversely, preferential processing appeared to occur for positive abstract words, especially for older adults. We contend that these results provide further evidence of the top-down and controlled nature of age-related positivity effects in episodic memory.

Attentional Disengagement Deficits Predict Brooding, but Not Reflection, Over a One-Year Period.

A growing literature suggests that rumination is linked to attentional disengagement deficits in depression. This is particularly the case with brooding, a maladaptive form of rumination. However, research on the potential constructive association between attentional disengagement and self-reflection, a putative adaptive form of rumination, is sparse. Thus, the goal of the present study was to examine whether visual attentional disengagement deficits differentially predict dispositional brooding and self-reflection tendencies. Depressed participants (n = 17), those in remission from depression (n = 42), and their peers with no depression histories (n = 70) completed clinical interviews, the Ruminative Response Scale (RRS), and an eye-tracking task that measured attentional disengagement from pleasant (happy) and unpleasant (sad) facial images during a laboratory visit, and the RRS at 4 month intervals over a 1-year period. Results revealed that slow disengagement from sad faces, and rapid disengagement from happy faces, was specifically associated with brooding tendencies concurrently and across follow-up. Attentional disengagement was unrelated to self-reflection. The disengagement-brooding associations remained after controlling for depression status and anxiety disorder histories, suggesting that attentional control deficits may be a state-independent marker of brooding. Theoretical and clinical implications for these associations are discussed.

A Discrete Emotions Perspective to Negative Autobiographical Recall among Younger and Older Adults.

Background: The discrete emotions approach predicts differential relevance of anger and sadness experiences to well-being between younger and older adults (anger more relevant in young adulthood, sadness more relevant in old age). Methods: We tested these assumptions within a semi-guided autobiographical recall task among a sample of younger and older adults. Participants recalled a series of 50 negative past life events that were categorized as to the primary emotion elicited. Phenomenological ratings included assessments of event negativity, positivity, vividness, and age at which the event occurred. Results: Contrary to expectations, there were no age differences in the ratio of anger and sadness experiences, as well as perceived negativity and vividness. However, perceived positivity of sadness events was higher among older relative to younger adults. Conclusion: We discuss the present results in terms of how various emotional events maintain their representational nature in old age, while certain events could be particularly unique to divergent age-related well-being outcomes.

Can't look Away: Attention control deficits predict Rumination, depression symptoms and depressive affect in daily Life.

BACKGROUND: Rumination and a reduced capacity to disengage attention as appropriate to context (attention control deficits) have each been implicated in the etiology and maintenance of depressive disorders. However, it remains unclear whether rumination is a mechanism by which attention control deficits predict depression, and whether these relations are observed outside of laboratory settings. We tested whether rumination mediates the effects of attention control deficits marked by slow disengagement from negative-valenced stimuli (sad faces) and fast disengagement from positive-valenced stimuli (happy faces) on depression symptoms and depressive affects in the daily lives of adults with various depression histories. METHOD: Forty-six participants (n = 23 with histories of Major Depressive Disorder) completed a clinical evaluation, an eye-tracking task that indexed attention control, and a 7-day Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) follow-up during which Negative (NA) and Positive Affect (PA) were measured at times of peak distress that occurred in the hour preceding each EMA prompt. RESULTS: Delayed disengagement from sad faces predicted elevated depression and NA levels, and low PA levels, independent of depression histories. Rumination mediated the effects of delayed disengagement from sad, and rapid disengagement from happy, faces on depression and NA levels. Effects of disengagement on rumination were maintained independent of depression levels. LIMITATIONS: Our sample size limited the detection of small statistical effects, and we could not clarify temporal relationships between attention control deficits and rumination. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that attention inflexibility and rumination persist independent of depressive states and should be targets of clinical intervention.

The influence of motivational priority on younger and older adults' positive gaze preferences.

The present study investigated whether manipulating emotional goal priority within a series of divided attention tasks influenced the presence or absence of age-related positive gaze preferences. Across two experiments, participants viewed image pairs while performing an auditory version of a 3-back n-back task. In Experiment 1, four conditions were presented: full attention viewing, emotion regulation priority, n-back task priority, and equal priority. The same conditions were included for Experiment 2, with the addition of a "no priority" divided attention condition and full attention n-back condition. Both age groups demonstrated greater positive relative to negative preferences when emotion regulation goals were prioritized, in spite of the challenge presented by a secondary task in divided attention. The present findings are discussed in terms of how positive emotional processing preferences may emerge despite cognitive control constraints in old age. Implications for the role of explicit motivations for older adults' positivity preferences are discussed.

Cognitive emotion regulation in adulthood and old age: positive gaze preferences across two strategies.

While positive emotional functioning may be enhanced across adulthood and old age, research is mixed as to the types of regulatory strategies that are more or less beneficial for facilitating well-being. The goal of the present study was to examine how specific cognitive emotion regulation strategies assumed to rely on varying levels of effortful processing (selective attention vs. reappraisal) would impact regulatory behaviors (via eye gaze deployment) and resultant affective outcomes. Participants viewed a series of positive, negative, and neutral film clips while their eyes were tracked across three conditions: passive viewing, selective attention, and reappraisal. Results revealed that (a) both younger and older adults displayed positive fixation preferences and showed mood improvement across both regulatory conditions and (b) there was a marginal association between positive fixation and post-regulation mood. Implications for linking positivity to emotion regulation and well-being across adulthood are discussed.

Registered Replication Report: Strack, Martin, & Stepper (1988).

According to the facial feedback hypothesis, people's affective responses can be influenced by their own facial expression (e.g., smiling, pouting), even when their expression did not result from their emotional experiences. For example, Strack, Martin, and Stepper (1988) instructed participants to rate the funniness of cartoons using a pen that they held in their mouth. In line with the facial feedback hypothesis, when participants held the pen with their teeth (inducing a "smile"), they rated the cartoons as funnier than when they held the pen with their lips (inducing a "pout"). This seminal study of the facial feedback hypothesis has not been replicated directly. This Registered Replication Report describes the results of 17 independent direct replications of Study 1 from Strack et al. (1988), all of which followed the same vetted protocol. A meta-analysis of these studies examined the difference in funniness ratings between the "smile" and "pout" conditions. The original Strack et al. (1988) study reported a rating difference of 0.82 units on a 10-point Likert scale. Our meta-analysis revealed a rating difference of 0.03 units with a 95% confidence interval ranging from -0.11 to 0.16.

Age-related differences in functional connectivity during cognitive emotion regulation.

OBJECTIVES: Successful emotion regulation partly depends on our capacity to modulate emotional responses through the use of cognitive strategies. Age may affect the strategies employed most often; thus, we examined younger and older adults' neural network connectivity when employing two different strategies: cognitive reappraisal and selective attention. METHOD: The current study used psychophysiological interaction analyses to examine functional connectivity with a region of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) because it is a core part of an emotion regulation network showing relative structural preservation with age. RESULTS: Functional connectivity between ACC and prefrontal cortex (PFC) was greater for reappraisal relative to selective attention and passive viewing conditions for both age groups. For younger adults, ACC was more strongly connected with lateral dorsolateral PFC, ventrolateral PFC, dorsomedial PFC, and posterior cingulate regions during reappraisal. For older adults, stronger connectivity during reappraisal was observed primarily in ventromedial PFC and orbitofrontal cortex. DISCUSSION: Our results suggest that although young and older adults engage PFC networks during regulation, and particularly during reappraisal, the regions within these networks might differ. Additionally, these results clarify that, despite prior evidence for age-related declines in the structure and function of those regions, older adults are able to recruit ACC and PFC regions as part of coherent network during emotion regulation.

Age-related differences in neural recruitment during the use of cognitive reappraisal and selective attention as emotion regulation strategies.

The present study examined age differences in the timing and neural recruitment within lateral and medial PFC while younger and older adults hedonically regulated their responses to unpleasant film clips. When analyses focused on activity during the emotional peak of the film clip (the most emotionally salient portion of the film), several age differences emerged. When comparing regulation to passive viewing (combined effects of selective attention and reappraisal) younger adults showed greater regulation related activity in lateral PFC (DLPFC, VLPFC, OFC) and medial PFC (ACC) while older adults showed greater activation within a region DLPFC. When assessing distinct effects of the regulation conditions, an ANOVA revealed a significant Age × Regulation Condition interaction within bilateral DLPFC and ACC; older adults but not young adults showed greater recruitment within these regions for reappraisal than selective attention. When examining activity at the onset of the film clip and at its emotional peak, the timing of reappraisal-related activity within VLPFC differed between age groups: younger adults showed greater activity at film onset while older adults showed heightened activity during the peak. Our results suggest that older adults rely more heavily on PFC recruitment when engaging cognitively demanding reappraisal strategies while PFC-mediated regulation might not be as task-specific for younger adults. Older adults' greater reliance on cognitive control processing during emotion regulation may also be reflected in the time needed to implement these strategies.

Emotion in Aging and Bipolar Disorder: Similarities, Differences, and Lessons for Further Research.

In this article, we consider similarities and differences in emotion research on older adults and individuals with bipolar disorder (BD). Recent research and theory within both areas has focused on the importance of positive emotion, but the case of older adults is generally considered a case of "adaptive" positivity whereas BD is usually considered maladaptive positivity. We explore the paradox of the same phenomenon being labeled as adaptive in one group and yet maladaptive in another, with attention to commonalities and distinctions between these two groups. We identify only limited areas of overlap, and suggest a refinement of models of positive emotionality in the two populations.

Positive gaze preferences in older adults: assessing the role of cognitive effort with pupil dilation.

Older adults display positive preferences in their gaze, consistent with their prioritization of emotion regulation goals. While some research has argued that substantial amounts of cognitive effort are necessary for these information-processing preferences to occur, other work suggests that these attentional patterns unfold with minimal cognitive exertion. The current study used an implicit regulatory context (i.e., viewing facial stimuli of varying emotions) to assess how much cognitive effort was required for positive attentional preferences to occur. Effortful cognitive processing was assessed with a direct measure of change in pupil dilation. Results indicated that minimal cognitive effort was expended when older adults engaged in positive gaze preferences. This finding suggests that gaze acts as a rather effortless and economical regulatory tool for individuals to shape their affective experience.

The time course of age-related preferences toward positive and negative stimuli.

When and why do older adults show positive preferences in their gaze patterns, looking preferentially toward positive and away from some negative stimuli? The current study investigated the time course of older adults' preferential fixation toward positive (happy) stimuli and away from negative (angry) stimuli to discern whether such patterns are more consistent with cognitive control or with simplified processing accounts of their origins. Positive preferences in older adults were found to emerge only 500 ms and later after stimulus onset and increased linearly over time; this time course is consistent with a cognitive control account.

Are preferences in emotional processing affected by distraction? Examining the age-related positivity effect in visual fixation within a dual-task paradigm.

Recent research has suggested that age-related positivity effects are eliminated under conditions of dual-task load (Knight et al., 2007, Emotion, 7, 705; Mather & Knight, 2005, Psychology and Aging, 20, 554), because the cognitive control resources necessary to enact such preferences are not available when individuals are distracted by competing information. We further examined how older adults' emotional information processing preferences are affected by distracting information by utilizing a within-subjects dual-task measure. Younger and older adults viewed a series of positive, negative, and neutral images both in conditions of full and divided attention. Fixation preferences to valenced images were assessed through eye tracking. Regardless of whether images were viewed in full or divided attention conditions, older adults demonstrated a preference in their fixation for positive and neutral in comparison to negative images. These results provide evidence that older adults' positive fixation preferences may not always necessitate full, cognitive control.