Older people are less volatile in their emotions

Aging brings us wisdom, at least in our emotions. The latest study by psychologists from Duke and Vanderbilt universities (USA) reveals that older people are more concerned about trying to optimize their daily well-being. They wish to feel good as much as possible while resisting daily temptations and had better emotional health. The study, published in the journal Emotionindicates that from a certain age, it becomes easier to manage one’s emotional health and to 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 are proven to improve with age.”

Better resistance to temptations

To carry out the study, the psychologists called on 123 participants aged 20 to 80 years. They received messages on their mobile phones three times a day for ten days and were asked to rate their emotional state, satisfaction, enthusiasm, relaxedness and slowness on a scale of one to five. Next, 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 overall well-being, independent of current moods. This allowed them to understand whether the participants had positive or negative feelings and their ability to resist temptations.

More focused on the present moment

“We found that 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 they become more present-oriented in older people, who try to maximize their daily well-being.

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

The study also found that people who experience more negative effects have a harder time resisting desires, while younger people, who have higher levels of life satisfaction, resist desires better. In contrast, older people resisted the temptation better, regardless of their life satisfaction.