Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Socioemotional selectivity'

TITLE: THE SOUND OF MUSIC: THE INFLUENCE OF EVOKED EMOTION ON RECOGNITION MEMORY FOR MUSICAL EXCERPTS ACROSS THE LIFESPAN Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (Carstensen, 1999) posits that as people age, they selectively focus on positive aspects of emotional stimuli as opposed to negative as a way of regulating emotions. Thus, older adults remember positive information better than negative. This hypothesis has been tested extensively with visual stimuli, but rarely with auditory stimuli. Findings from this study provide support in the auditory domain. In this study, 135 younger, middle-aged, and older adults heard consonant (pleasant) and dissonant (unpleasant) musical excerpts. Participants were randomly assigned to either a Study Only condition, in which they heard excerpts and studied them for later recognition, a Rate Only condition, in which they rated the excerpts and were tested later in a surprise recognition test, or a Rate and Study condition, in which they rated and studied the excerpts for later recognition. Results indicated that younger, middle-aged and older adults remembered consonant (pleasant) musical excerpts better than dissonant (unpleasant) musical excerpts overall and provide support for the hypotheses of the Socioemotional Selectivity Theory.

Past research has examined the many ways individuals behave in response to unconscious primes. For instance, unconsciously activating stereotypes leads people to exhibit behavior that parallels the target stereotype (e.g., Bargh, Chen, & Burrows, 1996; Dijksterhuis & van Knippenberg, 1998). Priming methodology has also been extended to inducing mortality salience, such that specific behaviors emerge in response to thinking about one’s own death. Two theories, socioemotional selectivity theory and terror management theory, hypothesize how individuals cope with thoughts about the end of life. The present study attempted to extend past research by comparing older and younger adults’ responses to unconscious mortality salience. Fifty-nine younger adults and 52 older adults were randomly assigned to one of two prime conditions: death prime or negative prime. The unconscious primes were administered through word searches, which contained 20 target words related to each prime. Defenses to the primes were assessed via suitability ratings and reaction times to a picture-caption task, which contained both neutral and emotional (positive and negative) captions paired with neutral pictures. A defense was operationalized as higher suitability ratings and faster reaction times to the positive captions, as well as lower suitability ratings and slower reaction times to the negative captions. Based on terror management theory, it was expected that individuals who were primed with death would display specific defensive behavioral responses as compared to those who were primed with negativity, regardless of age. Socioemotional selectivity theory, however, predicts that these defenses may also emerge when older adults are primed with negativity due to the increased tendency for older adults, relative to younger adults, to automatically implement default emotion regulatory goals. Analyses revealed that both younger and older adults embraced the neutral and positive captions after being primed with death. Participants primed with negativity were also more likely to embrace positivity. Age differences emerged such that younger adults were faster when reacting to emotional captions in the death condition than in the negative condition. Conversely, older adults primed with negativity reacted faster to emotional captions than those primed with death. Implications for terror management theory and socioemotional selectivity theory are discussed. Overall, both young and older adults displayed defenses to prime-activated threats of death and negativity. The implementation of death-related defenses was stronger for younger adults than the implementation of negativity-related defenses, but the opposite was true for older adults.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how age and job identification affect entrepreneurial intention. Design/methodology/approach: The researchers draw on a representative sample of the Austrian adult workforce and apply binary logistic regression on entrepreneurial intention. Findings: The findings reveal that as employees age they are less inclined to act entrepreneurially, and that their entrepreneurial intention is lower the more they identify with their job. Whereas gender, education, and previous entrepreneurial experience matter, leadership and having entrepreneurial parents seem to have no impact on the entrepreneurial intention of employees. Research implications: Implications relate to a contingency perspective on entrepreneurial intention where the impact of age is exacerbated by stronger identification with the job. Practical implications: Practical implications include the need to account for different motivational backgrounds when addressing entrepreneurial employees of different ages. Societal implications include the need to adopt an age perspective to foster entrepreneurial intentions within established organizations. Originality/value: While the study corroborates and extends findings from entrepreneurial intention research, it contributes new empirical insights to the age and job - dependent contingency perspective on entrepreneurial intention. (authors' abstract)

Background/Aims: Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (SST) is an emerging theory of lifespan development, implicating adaptive motivational processes with ageing. SST maintains that age is inherently linked with future time perspective (FTP). It argues that when people perceive time in life as expansive, typically in youth, individuals tend to prepare for the future, investing time and energy in Future and Knowledge-oriented goals. Increasingly with age FTP is more limited, consequently individuals prioritise Present and Emotion -oriented goals, aimed at mood regulation. This study has three aims. The first is to test the key tenets of SST within a single study; examining motivational shifts associated with FTP and ageing, within the framework of two bipolar dimensions (Present-Future and Knowledge-Emotion). The second aim is to develop and introduce the use of vignettes as a novel means to test SST assumptions. The final aim is to engage a culturally diverse sample in order to test the key assumptions and validity of SST across two cultures, Anglo British and Asian British. Method: Participants included 64 healthy older people, aged between 60 to 89 years. Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) were used to screen for cognitive impairment and depression. Participants aged 60-74 (n = 41) were allocated to the "young old" (Y/O) group and 75 years and above (n = 23) were assigned to the "old old" (O/O) group. Cultural differences were looked at between the Asian British (n - 30) and Anglo British (n = 34) participants. The eight goal-oriented vignettes, four Present-Future and four Emotion-Knowledge, were constructed and examined within a small pilot study, prior to their implementation within the main study. Perception of time left in life was assessed using Carstensen and Lang's (1996) Future Time Perspective Scale (FTPS) and an estimation of time left (ETL). Results and Conclusion: The study found that the Y/O group exhibited a more expansive FTP and a significant bias for Future and Knowledge goal-oriented information within the vignettes. Conversely, O/O participants reported a more constrained FTP and favoured Present and Emotion goal-oriented information. These associations were evident in both cultural groups suggesting that the assumptions of SST are robust and valid across cultures. FTP was found to be significantly associated with the Present-Future and Knowledge- Emotion goal-oriented dimensions, even when the effect of age was controlled for. This supports SST's assumption that perception of time, rather than age is the key modulator for individual's goal orientation. Overall, SST assumptions were shown to be robust and valid across both cultural groups. Some differences did emerge between cultures, as age appeared to be less predictive of an individuals' FTP within Asian British relative to Anglo British group. Results also indicated that FTP may be a better predictor of the Knowledge to Emotion motivational shift within the Asian British, rather than the Anglo British sample. The strength and patterns of associations within the study suggests that the vignettes are a suitable methodological approach for testing SST assumptions.

Socioemotional selectivity theory posits that as people age, they become motivated and successful at maximizing positive emotions and minimizing negative ones. Yet, 70% of older adults report physical pain, which is associated with negative affect. The strategies and resources that older adults use to maintain positive affect in the face of pain remain largely unknown. Specific positivity-enhancing strategies include recalling, recognizing, and responding to positive stimuli and prioritizing close over knowledgeable social partners. Executive functions (EF, i.e., task-switching, working memory, and inhibition) and heart rate variability (HRV) may be important resources for coping with pain. The current project used two studies to test whether older adults used positivityenhancing strategies and maintained emotional wellbeing following pain more than younger adults; associations with EF and HRV were also investigated. In Study 1, 50 older and 50 younger adults experienced a control and a pain condition, were given the chance to employ positivity-enhancing strategies, and provided EF and HRV data. Study 2 used longitudinal data from community-dwelling older adults (n =150) to test whether task-switching moderated the within-person relationship between pain and wellbeing. In Study 1, after the pain condition, younger adults demonstrated lesser preference toward knowledgeable social partners than older adults (γ = -0.15, p = .016). No other age group x pain condition x valence interactions were found. Older and younger adults did not differ in changes in positive or negative affect following pain. Task-switching and HRV were both associated with reduced preference for knowledgeable social partners following pain, but no other significant EF or HRV interactions were found. Study 2 failed to support the hypothesis that task-switching protected against pain-related declines in wellbeing. Future research on strategies that older adults use to maintain emotional wellbeing in the face of pain is needed.

By the year 2030, 20% of the U.S. population will be 65 years of age or older. An increase in the demand for supportive health and social services is expected with the aging of the population. Demand for senior housing is expected to grow, too. This study explores what the social environment offers to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) seniors who relocated to LGBT retirement communities. Previous research asked LGBT seniors who did not live in LGBT senior housing about their housing preferences. The present study, for the first time, asked residents of existing LGBT senior living communities to explain why they chose to live in an LGBT retirement community. Focus groups were conducted at three retirement communities. Thirty-eight residents at the three study sites participated. Seven focus groups were conducted; each was audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. The analysis found common categories across the focus group data that explain the phenomenon of LGBT senior housing. The average age of the participants was 71. Demographic differences were found between generations, with the older participants being more likely to have revealed their sexual orientation late in life, and more likely to have been married and have children. The findings showed that acceptance by other residents of one's sexual orientation and gender identity allows LGBT seniors to feel comfortable in what several residents called their "domestic environment." The questions asked about housing choice and were open ended; respondents chose to focus on the social aspect of their living environments. Acceptance, as opposed to tolerance, was a strong theme. Acceptance by others reduced stress and fostered a feeling of safety and a sense of community. Social networks were strong and expansive, contrary to the theory of socioemotional selectivity theory, which would argue that the total number social relationships diminishes with age. Participants emphasized the social context of their living environment as the reason they chose to live in LGBT senior housing. Participants noted past discrimination, but it was the positive aspects resulting from acceptance that were emphasized as the reason for their choice of LGBT specific retirement housing.

Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease is encouraged as a first step towards people planning for their future with the condition. Despite the proposed benefits of diagnosis, it is also widely recognised that Alzheimer’s disease can expose people to stigma. Therefore, this thesis explores the relationship between stigma and future outlook, from the perspective of people affected by early and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. In order to recognise the physicality of the condition and how psychological and social factors influence experiences, a biopsychosocial perspective is employed throughout. People with Alzheimer’s disease (n=15 people with late-onset, 7 people with early-onset) and their supporters (n=22) completed questionnaires about perceived stigma. This was followed by 14 interviews with a subsample of participants, which explored stigma and future outlook in more depth. Perceived stigma reporting across participants was low in the questionnaires; whereas interviews revealed higher levels of stigma with people discussing mixed, unpredictable reactions from a range of sources. Participants expressed awareness of the unpredictable nature of their futures with the condition. The subsequent lack of control was managed through focusing on ‘one day at a time’ and avoiding looking too far ahead. Across reflections on stigma and future outlook there was a deliberate focus on positive experiences for people affected by early and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The similar management of experiences across participants minimised possible age-based differences. These findings are supported by socioemotional selectivity theory, which suggests people are motivated to maintain positive emotional states when facing ‘time-limiting’ conditions irrespective of age. The research suggests people’s experiences of stigma and future outlook interact, with stigma-driven assumptions about the future affecting how people manage their daily lives. The avoidance of looking ahead suggests that policy which encourages future planning should consider its utility and explore ways of helping people to manage both exposure to stigma, and planning for the future, whilst focusing on daily living.

As the number of cancer survivors continues to rise, there is an increasing need for psychological research to better understand and help individuals cope with their cancer journey. According to Socioemotional Selectivity theory (SST), shortened time perspective and mortality awareness heighten the importance of social and emotional goals. In the present analysis, SST is applied to the unmet needs of cancer survivors. This is done to provide a better understanding of the association between unmet needs of cancer survivors and the impact of such needs on the survivors' psychological well-being, especially in the case of survivor’s awareness of his/her mortality. In keeping with SST theory, we anticipated that for those with higher mortality awareness (e.g., recurrence of cancer, older age, greater mortality ratio), high unmet social and emotional needs, above else, will be associated with lower psychological well-being. Partial support was found for these hypotheses and results are discussed in terms of their contribution to a better understanding of the nature of psychological well-being of cancer survivors.

In this study, we contrasted socioemotional selectivity theory (SST; Carstensen, 2006) with dynamic integration theory (DIT; Labouvie-Vief, 2003) using trajectories of quantitative and qualitative social support in later life. SST is a lifespan theory of motivational development (Carstensen, Isaacowitz, & Charles, 1999). There is a normative decline in social support networks in later life. In other words, individuals who perceive the limitation on time left for their future are likely to decrease the quantitative social support and compensate for this decrease by improving qualitative social support with emotionally meaningful social partners. The theory also postulates that age is the primary proxy for perceived limitation of individuals' lives (Carstensen, Fung, & Charles, 2003). Further, self-reported health and functional status are factors that affect older adults' perception of limitation of time left in their lives (Carstensen, 2006). In contrast, DIT is a neo-Piagetian theory that emphasizes the presence of individual differences in quantitative and qualitative social support in later life depending on individuals' levels of cognitive resources that are associated with educational levels (Labouvie-Vief & Diehl, 2000). Despite these different arguments on the trajectories of quantitative and qualitative social support in later life, SST and DIT have not been tested within a same study. The current study examined the trajectories of frequency of social contact (quantitative social support) and reliance on family members and close friends (qualitative social support) in later life. Participants were drawn from the Normative Aging Study (NAS; N = 1,067, M[subscript age] = 60.83, SD = 8.08) who completed social support surveys three times from 1985 to 1991. Using unconditional and unconditional analyses (Raudenbush & Bryk, 1986), growth models of frequency of social contact with and reliance on family members and close friends were tested. Within subject analyses found that the trajectory of frequency of social contact was a U-shaped curve with the age of 54 years at a peak, while the trajectory of reliance on family and friends were stable and linear. Random effects of age for the intercept and slope were significant in both models of frequency of contact and reliance on family and friends, although the random effect for the latter were small in both models. Between subjects analyses were conducted to examine whether cognitive resources, marital status, health status, and functional status predicted variance in the intercept and slope of both types of support. As SST hypothesized, having better self-reported physical health predicted higher levels of frequency of contact over age. Being married was associated with higher quantity of social support. However, contrary to our hypothesis based on SST, having poorer functional status predicted more frequent social contact over age. The random effect of intercept was still significant after controlling for these psychosocial predictors. The evidence to test the DIT hypotheses was examined in the model of the qualitative social support. Having memory problems predicted decreasing reliance on social partners. However, marital status and education did not significantly predict change in qualitative social relationships. Contrary to the hypothesis based on SST that posited poor self-reported health was associated with higher qualitative social support, it was better self-reported health that predicted higher qualitative social support. The random effects for the intercept and slope were still significant after controlling for these psychosocial factors. Taken together, the findings of the current study suggest that SST and DIT can be used as theoretical frameworks that are complementary rather than contradictory in their predictions of socioemotional development in later life. SST is useful to illustrate the overall trajectory of quantitative social support in a normative development in late life. DIT's stance better explains the individual differences in qualitative social support in non-normative contexts. The findings also suggest that having memory problems and poor self-reported health as non-normative developmental outcomes may be risk factors of older adults' ability to seek for social support.
Graduation date: 2012

Com a esperança média de vida a aumentar, a promoção da satisfação no trabalho ao longo da vida é um dos desafios mais importantes das nossas sociedades. A otimização da satisfação no trabalho nas diferentes fases do ciclo de vida ativa permitirá um envelhecimento ativo dos nossos colaboradores e das nossas organizações. O objetivo deste trabalho consistiu em investigar a existência de diferenças nos níveis de satisfação no trabalho para os indivíduos de faixas etárias distintas (20 aos 34, 35 aos 49 e 50 aos 64 anos), bem como nos valores do trabalho. Para isso, analisámos os dados do European Social Survey [ESS] de 2010 e do International Social Survey Program [ISSP] de 2005, relativamente à amostra de Portugal (637 participantes e 834 participantes, respetivamente). O nosso estudo recorreu à Teoria da Seletividade Socioemocional (Carstensen, 1995, 2006; Carstensen, Isaacowitz, & Charles, 1999) para o enquadramento das hipóteses e interpretação dos resultados. Os resultados mostram que apesar de não se terem evidenciado diferenças nos níveis de satisfação no trabalho para os indivíduos em diferentes fases do ciclo de vida ativa, registam-se algumas mudanças no seu conteúdo. Assim, os trabalhadores entre os 20 e os 34 anos valorizam mais a iniciativa própria e a oportunidade de receber formação do que aqueles que têm entre os 50 e os 64 anos (ESS 2010). Pretendemos, com este estudo, perceber como evolui a satisfação com o trabalho ao longo da vida ativa, bem como as alterações naquilo que as pessoas valorizam nas várias fases do ciclo de vida ativa. Com base nos nossos resultados, chamamos a atenção para o desenvolvimento de possíveis ações concretas e intervenções, a nível da concepção do trabalho e das políticas de Recursos Humanos.
With the average life expectancy rising, the promotion of job satisfaction throughout life is one of the most important challenges of our societies. The optimization of job satisfaction during the different phases of the cycle of active life will allow an active aging of our collaborators and our organizations. The objective of this study consisted in investigating the existence of differences on the levels of job satisfaction for individuals of distinct age groups (20 to 34, 35 to 49 and 50 to 64 years), as well as differences on the work values. To achieve this purpose, we analysed the data in the European Social Survey [ESS] from 2010, and in the International Social Survey Program [ISSP] from 2005, relatively to the sample of Portugal (637 participants and 834 participants, respectively). Our study resorted to the Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (Carstensen, 1995, 2006; Carstensen, Isaacowitz, & Charles, 1999) for the framing of the hypotheses and interpetration of the results. The results allow us to affirm that there are no significant differences on the job satisfaction for the three age groups, however there are registered changes in their contente. Thus, the workers between 20 and 34 years old give more value to self-initiative and to the opportunity to receive training, than those who are between 50 and 64 years old (ESS 2010). We intend, with this study, to understand how does job satisfaction evolve throughout active life, as well as the modifications in the things that the workers value in the different stages of the cycle of the active life. Based on our results, we draw the attention to the development of possible specific actions and interventions, at the level of the job conception and Human Resources policies.