DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY II: SERVICE LEARNING

Theory of Emotional Selectivity

LIMA, 2020

INDEX

INTRODUCTION 3
1. CONCEPT OF EMOTION 4
2. EMOTION IN MIDDLE AND LATE ADULTHOOD 4
2.1 FAMILY RELATIONS IN ADULTHOOD AND OLD AGE 5
3. CHANGES IN EMOTIONS 5
4. THE PARADOX OF MIDDLE ADULTHOOD 6
EXPERIENCE EMOTIONAL COGNITIVE 7
6. EMOTIONAL STATES 9
6.1 WELL-BEING IN PHYSICAL HEALTH 9
 6.2 WELL-BEING IN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 10
7. BIOGRAPHY OF LAURA CARSTENSEN 11
8. THEORY OF SOCIOEMOTIONAL SELECTIVITY 12
9. EFFECT OF POSITIVITY 12
9.1 IN PERCEPTION 13
9.2 IN MEMORY 13
9.3 IN ATTRIBUTION 13
10. NEW LIFESTYLE 14
11. CONCLUSIONS 15
12. BIBLIOGRAPHIES 15

INTRODUCTION

This report provides an overview of the Socioemotional Selectivity Theory,

which postulates the idea that aging produces a motivational change, due to the
What, when people age, they place in the first place in the hierarchy of goals the
extraction of meaning and the optimization of their emotional experience.

Despite the focus being on age, however, a perspective of

vital cycle that draws the lines of development, in general, and the typical phases of changes
or on the emotional stability of adults. The primary interest is focused on the adult person,
in their resources, their goals related to the specific demands of age, their
evolutionary contexts, as well as the corresponding processes to achieve such goals. For
Hello, the defining limitations of developmental psychology are exposed.
next, the essential theoretical concepts are described, set in context
of the entire exposition. Finally, the characteristic course of the
competencies, depending on the age.

1. CONCEPT OF EMOTION

Emotion is defined as the set of organic responses that one feels.

person when reacting to some external stimuli that facilitates adapting to a
circumstance relating to an individual, place, object, among others. These are characterized
for being a disturbance of the spirit for a short period, but with greater momentum than a
feeling. On the other hand, feelings are the results of emotions, therefore,
they are longer and can be expressed. As confirmed in various studies on
What are these organic responses, it is revealed that they have a very important role in the
health systems of an individual. So much so that in many situations it happens that a
disease is triggered by certain experiences that cause a particular emotion, just like
it is the case of themental disordersthe phobias. Also, there are cases of epilepsy, where

Emotions are a predominant cause.

2. EMOTION IN MIDDLE AND LATE ADULTHOOD

Erickson calls it the stage of the crisis of productivity vs. stagnation. These
characteristics refer to the encounter of balance and integration of the conflicts that arise
they had before. With the arrival of middle adulthood, changes begin to occur
important in people, in this stage personal and work roles are
interdependent ones which are governed by society and the opportunities that these provide
and to each person. Due to this, responsibilities and demanding roles increase, for
Thus, this stage can be considered stressful. It is also considered a stage of
self-actualization and productivity, since one advances professionally and the person is in
plans to start a family or already have one. People tend to look at what they have lived.
up to now and what they have left to live, considering this stage as an era
to reconsider goals and aspirations and thus make the most of the time left to live.
Likewise, adults are concerned about wanting to guide and direct future generations.
generations and in this way be able to sustain themselves, feeling that they are leaving a legacy.
At this stage, the person shows various changes in their personality that influence their
stability and emotional development: The aging process begins to become evident.
Physical, cognitive, psychomotor deficits, in sexuality and functioning are present.
player. Emotional changes due to menopause or andropause. Concern about
to marry (social clock), to have a stable job, to be the support of the family (more so for men)
for social role) and for tensions at work.

2.1 FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS IN ADULTHOOD AND OLD AGE

Sternberg's Triangle of Love:

 ✔Passion: Motivational and activation component of love. It is the expression of
wishes and needs. It relates to sexuality in the couple. It is very clear in the
time of falling in love and does not allow knowing the other person.
Intimacy: Emotional component of love. It implies intimate communication with
the other person, the concern for the other, and the giving of oneself. To know the
another person and let oneself be known by her, and share emotions, secrets and
feeling. Also a characteristic in friendships.
Commitment: Cognitive component of love. Decision to love the other person
and maintaining that love over time. It takes time and grows as time goes by.
that mutual affection, the ability to forgive and to share possessions and
feelings.

3. CHANGES IN EMOTIONS

Changes associated with age have been found in different facets of experience.
emotional. Specifically, the following aspects are analyzed:

✔The own experience or emotional response, at any of its levels of

analysis: subjective-experiential or how the person experiences the emotion;
expressive-motor or how a person expresses their emotion at a motor and behavioral level;
and physiological or neurophysiological reactions that accompany the experience
emotional.
Qualitative aspects of emotion, such as its nature (for example: degree
of the complexity of emotions) and their degree of integration with processes
cognitive.
Emotional control and emotion regulation strategies.

4. THE PARADOX OF MIDDLE ADULTHOOD

As life goes on, people go through different states, from physical fulfillment,
social and mental until reaching the issues that old age often brings with it. That is
the stereotype that everyone seems to agree on and that, of course, is based on
objective realities, although it is also true that each aging process is different. However, the
surveys claim that subjective happiness increases as we age; in that
meaning, and this is known as the paradox of old age, the years do not only bring ailments and
deterioration, also contribute happiness.
In general terms, it can be said that the objective evolution that comes with age
It is caused by the conjunction of four factors: progressive deterioration of functions
physical; progressive decline of faculties and mental functions; changes in the
family, social, and professional environment; and the person's reactions to all these factors.
People are objectively affected by the first three factors, which produce
direct transformations (such as concrete health issues) and indirect effects
about behavior (such as deafness causing disinterest and withdrawal from
external world). The last factor causes various reactions, both in the realm of the
attitudes expressed as in inner life, and it is what marks the subjective difference
when facing life's expectations with reality. In that sense, aging well
it does not depend so much on objective reality (the degree of deterioration suffered) as on the way of
to perceive it and to adapt to it.
Numerous studies indicate that life satisfaction increases as one
they age; in other words, older adults are happier than other age groups, according to
highlights the statistics. Emotional well-being (or happiness) would be related to
the subjective experience of feeling good, of being comfortable with oneself and with the world
exterior. Feelings of satisfaction and tranquility constitute a component
essential to health and, in a broad sense, are related to the ability to adapt to
changes and the learning of new things, two basic factors for the development of a
active and healthy aging.
When the future is perceived as limited, as happens in old age, the goals of the
people focus on immediate aspects (searching for meaning in life, interacting
socially or cultivating personal relationships) that can be achieved with some ease. In
In other words, accepting the finiteness of life and embracing it positively changes from a
a positive way the expectations of people and contributes to increasing their well-being
emotional.
In a study conducted in 2006 with the support of the University of Michigan (US
UU) all participants (divided into two groups aged 21 to 40 and over 60)
they agreed on the idea that at 30 years old one was happier than at 70 and that happiness
decreased with age; however, when assessing their own happiness at their current age, the
statistical analysis of the survey revealed that the elderly felt much happier than
people under 40 years old.
The negative stereotypes surrounding old age lead to its consideration (even among the
elders) as a stage filled with disadvantages; however, the majority of
the conducted research reveals a very different reality. Aging is a
gradual process that facilitates adaptation to changes and allows living with satisfaction.
Aging well is possible.

5. COGNITIVE EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE

From modern theories of emotional development in old age, it has been suggested that the
the emotional experience of older people could present a different nature,
being more complex (more verbal representations to denote affection, greater
differentiation between types of affections and emotional nuances), a reflection of a capacity
progressively higher to integrate emotion and cognition, more bittersweet (greater
integration of positive and negative emotional aspects and more differentiated, that is, with
more dimensions than that of the young, the latter related to better regulation
emotional). The available evidence that points in this direction is, however,
insufficient, and even some of the theorists who propose these gains suggest
currently these would be more typical of middle age and that subsequently
would attenuate.

Another finding of gerontological research on age-related changes

In the interaction between cognition and emotion, it has been found that older people are more
more effective than young people in resolving social conflicts that carry a high burden
emotional, better adapting their problem-solving strategies based on the type of
concrete problem that needs to be solved.

On the other hand, laboratory study results indicate that older adults
they could find emotional meaning in stimuli defined objectively as no
emotional. One possible explanation for this phenomenon could be that older people
they could have learned to give emotional meaning to simple things that used to happen to them
unintended. Lawton's finding regarding a higher score of individuals
older individuals, compared to middle-aged ones, in the item: At this time in my life, I find
even more things that excite me than I found when I was in my twenties
point in this direction.

Finally, various studies have suggested that, as we age, a

increase in the relevance of emotional information in cognitive processing. Thus,
for example, when elderly people are asked to whom a narration has been read with the
same proportion of neutral and emotional information, which recalls data from the narrative, these
remember, compared to young people, a larger proportion of information
emotional. On the other hand, in tasks of recalling real and imagined events, the
older people remember, compared to young people, more thoughts and
feelings generated during the recording of events, while young people
they remember more purely descriptive or factual information. This has been interpreted as
sign of greater vulnerability on the part of the elderly to suffer interference
of personal-affective material in the memory processes of descriptive information.
It seems, moreover, that the increase in the relevance of emotional information could
restricting oneself to positive emotional information, as this information is,
proportionally, the one that older people seem to remember the best and to which they seem
attend selectively. If the regulatory function of memory processes is assumed,
a memory that accentuates the positive and/or attenuates the negative could function as a
powerful tool for emotional regulation of indubitable adaptive value for the
elderly people.

6. EMOTIONAL STATES

Studies on the frequency of emotional states: regarding positive affect, there have been
found results in longitudinal studies that coincide with the finding of a pattern
of great stability in levels of positive affect, with a possible decrease in these
at very advanced ages. Regarding negative emotional states or affection
negative, cross-sectional studies tend to find a lower frequency of states
negative emotions among older adults, such as depression, anxiety,
hostility and shyness or general negative affection, a decrease that seems to depend on
variables such as sex or marital status will be attenuated in the decade of the 60s.

When people are asked about their level of satisfaction with their lives, it is assumed that
These make a global judgment of the frequency of positive and negative emotional states.
what they experience in their daily life. No significant differences have been found.
associated with age in life satisfaction, although aging goes
associated with declines and losses in aspects that have been found related in a way
positive with subjective well-being, such as marriage, income or the
health. Even more paradoxical is that, when differences have been found, it has been in the
a sense of greater life satisfaction, a greater overall well-being, and an emotional balance
more favorable to positive emotional states in older adults.

6.1 WELLNESS IN PHYSICAL HEALTH

Due to their influence on the autonomous and immune systems, negative emotions and
the inhibition of its expression is considered a basic aspect of functioning
psychological factors that significantly influence the origin, maintenance, and exacerbation
of health problems (e.g., effects of hostility and anger on coronary disease
cardiac; or the inhibition of emotions in the predisposition to cancer).

Additionally, the study of the possible consequences is attracting more attention.

beneficial for health of positive emotions. These relationships between emotions,
physiological activation and health outcomes could gain greater relevance as
individuals age, due to the fact that with aging the amount of
somatic resources to tolerate high levels of physiological arousal. Thus, a
abnormally elevated emotional activation and chronic in nature could be more
harmful to the health of an elderly person. Thus, the analysis of the experience
and emotional regulation is a matter of utmost interest in research
about the health and physical well-being of older adults.
6.2 WELL-BEING IN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Thesocietyit directly affects the emotional development of the elderly as

there are certainstereotypesabout old age that intervenes in their interpersonal relationships.
Nowadays, there is no culture of old age as the aspects are usually considered more
negatives of late adulthood that lead to a devalued view of this stage. For example,
elders are seen as people nearing their end and not as deserving of
merit of having traveled a long road. This negative connotation is due to the
external references such as one's own age, which generate, in most people,
a negative definition of themselves, that is, self-perception also becomes negative.
Therefore, if the self-image has negative influences, then the self-concept and the
self-esteem they will probably decline. However, there are also stereotypes
positives in which the elderly are considered as a source ofwisdomsince his
long experience during life gives one a special status. Relationships
interpersonal relationships of older adults generally refer to relationships
intergenerational, that is, the elderly are surrounded by people of different
generationswith which they must often connect. This is because society
changes constantly and rapidly, and the new generations dissociate from the
previous ones in order to differentiate themselves. According to Radán & Ramírez (1985), stereotypes

negatives will often lead adults and young people to distance themselves and avoid socializing
with senile people. Therefore, the stereotypes that the following generations will approve
about the elderly, it will serve asfeedbacktowards hisself-concept and for
end, will influence their emotional development.

On the other hand, older adults are usually connected with their family for most of the time and the
Being grandparents could be a characteristic of age that relates to their development.
emotional. According to Triadó and Villar (2000), thegrandparentsin old age they often feel very

close to their grandchildren and emphasize affectionate expressions over their relationships.
instrumental relationships (exchange of services and help), although in reality they do not
they share many activities ofleisurejointly. On the other hand, the grandparents are located
in a power relationship over their grandchildren and consider that their role is to root them in the

younger generations in theculturefamiliar (history and tradition of the family). It

relates to the emotional development of the elderly because feeling loved by their
grandchildren within this affectionate relationship and exercising dominance over them will help strengthen

the security in themselves and theirself-esteem.

7. BIOGRAPHY OF LAURA CARSTENSEN

Laura Carstensen was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and spent most of her childhood in
Rochester, New York. He graduated from theUniversity of Rochesterin 1978 and obtained its
Ph.D. in psychology of theWest Virginia Universityin 1983. He/she served as
assistant professor of psychology atIndiana Universityfrom 1983-1987 and then it
joined the Department of Psychology at Stanford University in 1987. In addition to his
As a psychology professor, he served as Barbara D. Finberg's director.
Clayman Gender Research Institutethe period 1997-2001 and president of
Department of Psychology from 2004-2006. With Thomas Rando, Carstensen founded the
Stanford Longevity Center in 2007, where he currently serves as
director. Carstensen originally formulated the socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) in
the 1990s. SST is a lifespan theory of motivation that postulates that
People prioritize emotionally significant goals when they feel limited.
time horizons. Carstensen is considered a thought leader in longevity.
His essays and opinion articles have appeared in theNew York Times, Time Magaziney
The Boston Globe. HisTED talkhas been viewed more than a million times. In 2011 it
he published a long bright future: happiness, health, and financial security in an era
of increasing longevity.

8. SOCIOEMOTIONAL SELECTIVITY THEORY

The theory of socioemotional selectivity (Carstensen, 1993) is part of the set of
knowledge that falls under the discipline called psychology of aging and old age.
This theory specifically deals with personality in aging and old age.

The main thesis of the socioemotional selectivity theory is that changes in the network
the social lives of the elderly are not the result of a loss but of a motivational change in
social goals. This theory is based on the human capacity to plan, to set their own
personal vital goals. These goals vary because people set them according to
consideration of the temporal parameter.

When we are young, we understand time as something open, unlimited, and we do

future plans. We surround ourselves with different people, work contacts, friends to
to go out, academic contacts, in general our social network is broad.

As we grow older, or after a traumatic experience close to death.

like a serious accident, we began to understand that we have a finite time available. To
having the certainty of the end of life near, emotional goals become more
more important than the rest of life's goals, and people generally prefer,
interact with those who maintain closer relationships. It may seem that the network
this person's social network is decreasing because they are losing contacts, but this decline is
understood in this theory as the personal choice of the most significant objects, the
most relevant people in our life.

A poor or small social network can be a cause of a depressive state in people.

young people, but the size of the social network does not have a direct relationship with depression in

elderly people.

9. EFFECT OF POSITIVITY

The positivity effect is the ability to examine a situation exemplarily in the

that the desired results are not achieved; moreover, in this way to achieve
positive comments that assist our future progression. At the moment when a
a person considers the people they like (including themselves), the person tends to do
situational attributions about their negative behaviors and dispositional attributions
about their positive behaviors. The opposite may be true for people who do not like him.
pleases the person. This may well be due to the discordance between pleasing a person
and see that he behaves negatively. For example: if a friend hits someone, one would
I would assert that the other deserved it or that they needed to defend themselves.

9.1 IN PERCEPTION

Studies have found that older adults are more prone than adults.
younger people to pay more attention to negative stimuli than positive ones (according to the evaluation

of thepoint-probe paradigmsmethods and eye-tracking). However, the effect is also

different in all cultures. For example, Hong Kong Chinese averted their gaze from
happy stimuli and more towards fear stimuli, and the difference in the pattern of the
attention was related to differences in self-conceptualization.

9.2 IN MEMORY

The term positivity effect also refers to age differences in attention and
emotional memory. As people age, they experience fewer emotions
they are negative and tend to look back into the past in a positive way. Moreover, in
comparison with younger adults' memories, older adults' memories are more
more likely to consist of positive information than negative information and more likely to be
distorted in a positive direction. This version of the positivity effect was coined
by the research team of Laura L. Carstensen. There is a debate about the
possibility of generalizing among cultures of the positivity effect related to the
aging, with some evidence for different types of emotional processing
among Americans compared to the Japanese.

9.3 IN ATTRIBUTION

The positivity effect is related to people's tendency to value the causes of

the behaviors of a person that they like or prefer, attributing the predisposition
inherent to the person as a cause of their positive behaviors and the situations that lead to them.
they are rooted as the cause of their negative behaviors. The positivity effect is the inverse of
negativity effect, which occurs when people evaluate the causes of the
behaviors of a person that they do not like. The two effects are cuts of
attribution.

10. NEW LIFESTYLE

In many cases, when one isyoungjust puts filters on their reality. One lets everything
I arrived, eager to experience, to feel with open arms and a willing heart. Without
As we mature, we begin to place filters and even fences.
Now, when we cross that threshold that leads us to the autumn of life, a
new vision. The palisades are dropped and the filters are more selective. The search is for
prioritize and focus attention on everything that can provide us with well-being and not
problems.

In this way, as explained to us by the psychologist and [Link] Ellgring

Max Planck Institute in Munich, in its book "The Reasons and Emotions of Old Age", the
The elderly focus their attention on three aspects:

Enjoy the relationships with your family and friends.

Invest in your health.
✔Take care of and enjoy your resources (home, garden, field, animals).

A positive life for the elderly is based on addressing those [Link]

subjective resides in those three factors, with the social, relational, and affective aspect being the most
important. Therefore, aging healthily relies on being selective and having a clear understanding of

priorities, where the need to enjoy positive emotions on a daily basis is undoubtedly
something priority.
11. CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, people with broad time horizons have more
ability to prioritize exploration and the expansion of its horizons.
The search for new relationships promises long-term benefits.
Over time, people prioritize emotionally significant goals that
are more likely to evoke feelings of emotional satisfaction.
People with limited time horizons have smaller social circles.
small, carefully selected and a better emotional well-being.
Age, therefore, is not only a matter of chronology, but also a way of
to feel and to live their experiences.

12. BIBLIOGRAPHIES

✔Márquez, G. (2004) Emotion in old age: a review of the influence of the

emotional factors regarding the quality of life of older adults, Journal
Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology.

✔Concepción Flecha, G. (2015) Subjective psychological well-being and older adults.

Interuniversity Journal, University of the Basque Country, Spain.

✔Sánchez, Adriana. (Last edition: November 22, 2019). Definition of

Emotion. Retrieved from: //[Link]/emocion/. Consulted on the 22nd of
June 2020

✔Gaitán, Ricardo. (July 3, 206) The theory of socio-emotional selectivity of

Laura Carstensen. Obtained fromInvalid URL. Please provide text for translation.
[Link]

✔Romero Gerardo. The effect Positivity. Obtained of

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