Seniors are less volatile in their emotions

Aging brings us wisdom, at least in our emotions. The latest study from psychologists at Duke and Vanderbilt universities in the United States reveals that older adults are more concerned with trying to improve their well-being on a daily basis. They wanted to feel good as much as possible while resisting daily temptations and had better emotional health. The study, published in the journal Emotion, indicates that from a certain age, it becomes easier to manage one’s emotional health and become stable while being able to resist daily temptations.

According to Daisy Burr, a Duke doctoral student who led the study with Gregory Samanez-Larkin, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience, “emotional health and regulation have been shown to improve with age. ”

Better resistance to temptations

To carry out the study, psychologists called on 123 participants aged 20 to 80 years. They received messages on their cell phones three times a day for ten days and were asked to rate their emotional state, satisfaction, enthusiasm, relaxation and slowness on a scale of one to five. Then they were asked if they had cravings for food or alcohol, cigarettes, social media, shopping, talking to someone, sex, sleep or work.

Each participant was asked to report up to three temptations at a time. By analyzing their response on a standard measure of “overall life satisfaction”, the researchers determined general well-being, regardless of the moods of the moment. This allowed them to understand whether the participants had positive or negative feelings and their ability to resist temptations.

More focused on the present

“We found that the older study participants were more stable and less volatile in their emotions, suggesting that age may be a stronger predictor of the ability to resist temptation than emotional state.”Says Gregory Samanez-Larkin. The researchers were also able to understand that with age, individuals’ personal goals change, and that they orient themselves more towards the present in the elderly, who try to maximize their well-being on a daily basis.

As participants answered questions posed by researchers in their own time and space, rather than in a controlled environment like a laboratory, the team believes the study better reflects real-world conditions. The findings also showed that older adults were able to refine their emotional state when they were allowed to do what they wanted.

The study also found that people who experience more negative effects have a harder time resisting cravings, while younger people, who have a higher level of satisfaction in life, resist cravings better. On the other hand, older people resisted temptation better, regardless of their satisfaction with living.

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