Age and the understanding of emotions: neuropsychological and sociological perspectives.

Phillips, Louise H; MacLean, Rory D J; Allen, Roy

Abstract

Sociocognitive approaches suggest that the ability to understand emotions should be well maintained in adult aging. However, neuropsychological evidence suggests potential impairments in processing emotions in older adults. In the current study, 30 young adults (aged 20–40 years) and 30 older adults (aged 60–80 years) were tested on a range of emotional ability measures. There were no age effects on the ability to decode emotions from verbal material. Older people were less able to identify facial expressions of anger and sadness, and showed poorer ability to identify theory of mind from pictures of eyes. The results indicate specific age-related deficits in identifying some aspects of emotion from faces, but no age effects on the understanding of emotions in verbal descriptions

Citation

Phillips, L. H., MacLean, R. D. J., & Allen, R. (2002). Age and the understanding of emotions: neuropsychological and sociological perspectives. Journals of Gerontology, Series B, 57B, 526-530. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/57.6.P526

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2002
• Deposit Date: Jan 11, 2012
• Print ISSN: 1079-5014
• Electronic ISSN: 1758-5368
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 57B
• Pages: 526-530
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/57.6.P526
• Keywords: Emotion; impairments; understanding; processing; young adults; older adults; facial expressions; decoding
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/4871
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronb/57.6.P526