Age and Emotion

Emotions are everyday occurrences that shape the quality of daily life. As people grow older, emotional experiences are marked by more frequent positive emotions and less frequent negative emotions. This increased well-being is posited to reflect their increasing awareness that time left to live is growing shorter, which shifts their priorities toward emotion-related goals. These goals focus their attention, memories, and decisions toward more positive and less negative experiences. For a minority of older adults, however, significant declines in physical and cognitive functioning create increases in distress. Overall, healthy aging is marked by high levels of emotional well-being.