Two prominent theories of lifespan development, socioemotional selectivity theory and selection, optimization, and compensation theory, make similar predictions for differences in the goal representations of younger and older adults. Our purpose was to test whether the goals of younger and older adults differed in ways predicted by these two…

This study investigated the hypothesis that older adults would show age-related reductions in the tendency to worry in both their retrospective accounts and through cross-sectional age comparisons with a sample of younger adults. We also sought to determine whether age differences would be evident in psychological processes associated with a…

The goal of this study is to investigate whether perceived changes in one's well-being from the present to the future are related to chronological age, target age, and type of measure (psychological well-being versus life satisfaction). Young adults (N = 114) rated their current well-being and their future well-being at one of three target ages…

Measured future expectations of quality of life and present evaluations of quality of life in three age groups of 60 individuals using four measures. Found significant relationship between age and Faces Scale for future expectations; age also related to differences between future expectations and present quality of life estimates. (Author/ABL)

Asked college students what information they would glean from drivers (aged 16 to 91) involved in traffic accident for assigning accident responsibility. Found ageist information-seeking across lifespan independent of driver gender, participant age, and participant gender. Participants would ask younger drivers about driving conduct (drinking,…

The time judgments of the older participants were significantly and systematically determined by a metronome rate. Results are consistent with the notion of increased field-dependence among older persons and suggest that their greater social conformity and their inability to ignore irrelevant stimuli might also be explicable. (Author)

Examined conceptions of femininity and masculinity in women who were college freshmen, in their midtwenties, midthirties, and midforties. Results indicated older women emphasized the biological element of their role, and rejected the relationship between gender and personality. Younger women emphasized physical characteristics and were more likley…

Explored age differences in expression of depression. Among 118 young adults and 107 community-residing elderly individuals, found that, in young adults, cognitive belief factors "externality/control" and "dependency/emotionality" were associated with affective and cognitive aspects of depression. Among older adults, cognitive…

Explored open-ended attributions for success and failure of relatively younger and older men in social and academic situations using between-subjects design. Findings from 109 college students showed that respondents were more likely to make attributions that combined age with other attributional categories than attributions solely to target's…

Libyan undergraduates (N=106) and their aged relatives (N=109) completed questionnaires measuring life satisfaction in old age. Younger subjects rated social relationships outside the family and having basic physical needs met in old age as more important than did older subjects. Findings and implications for services to Libya's elderly are…

Taped passages read by different aged tellers were orally recalled by college students. Results suggested that physical qualities of older voices led to more effective oral transmission, listeners expected certain information from elders, and mismatch between physical vocal quality and age attribution effected speaker evaluation, not information…

Compared college students and community-dwelling older adults (total n=171) on Injustice and Personal Power scales and measures of religiosity. Personal Power scores varied significantly as function of age and gender (significantly lower belief in personal power for older women). Injustice scores were significantly higher for women than for men.…

Examined age differences and attributions of age differences in locus of control orientation for 60 college students and 97 older adults. Findings showed that both age groups misattributed levels of control orientation to the other group when compared to that group's self-ratings. Older adults endorsed more internal beliefs than did college…

Examined the development of belief discrepancy reasoning, or how people evaluate disagreeing others, with 44 college and elderly respondents. Results showed the elderly were significantly lower in belief discrepancy reasoning and higher in dogmatism than the college sample. The elderly sample did not evidence intolerance, but rather relativism.…

Compared self-disclosures between undergraduate women (n=20) and young or older women. Young women produced more self-disclosures with same-aged than with older partners. Young women devoted marginally fewer of their self-disclosures to statements about past than did older women. Intimacy and negativity of disclosures by dyad members were more…