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COVID-19 reduced age differences in social motivation
Li Jiang1, Laura L Carstensen2
1Department of Marketing, George Washington University, Washington DC, United States.
Frontiers in Psychology
|January 26, 2023
Summary
During the COVID-19 pandemic, social motivation prioritized emotional meaning for all ages, not just older adults. This suggests perceived time horizons, not chronological age, drive social preferences.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Gerontology
Background:
- Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) posits that limited future time horizons motivate emotionally meaningful goals, while expansive horizons encourage exploration.
- The COVID-19 pandemic heightened mortality awareness across all age groups, creating a unique context to study social motivation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether age-related differences in social motivation persisted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- To examine the influence of perceived time horizons on social preferences during a period of heightened mortality salience.
Main Methods:
- Two studies were conducted in 2020 during the pandemic's peak, measuring social motivation via social preferences.
- Two additional studies were conducted in 2021 after vaccine introduction, using the same experimental paradigm.
Main Results:
- At the pandemic's peak, social preferences universally favored emotionally meaningful partners, irrespective of age.
- Once vaccines became available in 2021, age differences in social preferences re-emerged, aligning with pre-pandemic observations.
Conclusions:
- Widely documented age differences in social motivation appear to be more strongly linked to perceived time horizons than to chronological age.
- Mortality salience during the pandemic temporarily shifted social motivation towards emotional goals across all age groups.
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