Age Differences in Beliefs About Emotion Regulation Strategies

Age shifts in emotion regulation may be rooted in beliefs about different strategies. We test whether there are age differences in the beliefs people hold about specific emotion regulation strategies derived from the process model of emotion regulation and whether profiles of emotion beliefs vary by age.

An adult life-span sample (N = 557) sorted 13 emotion regulation strategies either by (a) how effective the strategies would be or (b) how likely they would be to use them, in 15 negative emotion-eliciting situations.

Younger adults ranked attentional and cognitive distraction more effective than older adults, and preferred avoidance, distraction, and rumination more (and attentional deployment less) than middle-aged and older adults. Latent profile analysis on preferences identified three distinct strategy profiles: Classically adaptive regulators preferred a variety of strategies; situation modifiers showed strong preferences for changing situations; a small percentage of people preferred avoidance and rumination. Middle-aged and older adults were more likely than younger adults to be classically adaptive regulators (as opposed to situation modifiers or avoiders/ruminators).

These findings provide insight into the reasons people of different ages may select and implement different emotion regulation strategies, which may influence their emotional well-being.