At the Intersection of Emotion and Cognition

2005/06/01 by Laura L. Carstensen, Joseph A. Mikels · 1,000 citations
Psychology · Neuroscience · #Aging and Gerontology Research #Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies #Cultural Differences and Values #Socioemotional selectivity theory #Psychology #Cognition #Cognitive psychology #Theory of mind #Social cognition #Developmental psychology #Emotionality

paper · doi:10.1111/j.0963-7214.2005.00348.x

published in Current Directions in Psychological Science 14(3), 117-121 (SAGE Publishing)

openalex publication_date 2005/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06

Abstract

Divergent trajectories characterize the aging mind: Processing capacity declines, while judgment, knowledge, and emotion regulation are relatively spared. We maintain that these different developmental trajectories have implications for emotion–cognition interactions. Following an overview of our theoretical position, we review empirical studies indicating that (a) older adults evidence superior cognitive performance for emotional relative to non-emotional information, (b) age differences are most evident when the emotional content is positively as opposed to negatively valenced, and (c) differences can be accounted for by changes in motivation posited in socioemotional selectivity theory.

Citations

• Socioemotional Selectivity Theory, Aging, and Health: The Increasingly Delicate Balance Between Regulating Emotions and Making Tough Choices
• A perspective on judgment and choice: Mapping bounded rationality.
• Drag Characteristics of Rectangular and Swept-back NACA 65-009 Airfoils Having Aspect Ratios of 1.5 and 2.7 as Determined by Flight Tests at Supersonic Speeds
• Sending memorable messages to the old: Age differences in preferences and memory for advertisements.
• Taking time seriously: A theory of socioemotional selectivity.

Cited by

• Effects of aging on functional connectivity of the amygdala during negative evaluation: A network analysis of fMRI data
• Decision‐making heuristics and biases across the life span
• Age, time, and decision making: from processing speed to global time horizons
• Socioemotional selectivity theory [wikipedia]