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Published on: August 26, 2011
Viewing injustice: greater emotion heterogeneity with age
1Department of Psychology and Social Behavior.
Abstract:
The present study examined age differences in emotion heterogeneity, defined as the experience of co-occurring negative emotions. Younger and older European American and Mexican American participants (N=183) viewed film clips depicting scenes of injustice. Younger adults were more likely to report a single primary negative emotion, whereas older adults reported greater emotion heterogeneity, a finding consistent across gender and ethnicity. In addition, greater emotion heterogeneity was related to a greater number of life experiences. Future directions concerning the meaning of and possible implications for this age difference are discussed.
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