Interdependent self-construal moderates the age-related negativity reduction effect in memory and visual attention.
There is some debate concerning whether people selectively attend to and remember less negative relative to positive or neutral information with age. We argue that such an age-related negativity reduction effect may be attenuated among individuals who are more interdependent, as they are likely to perceive negative information as equally useful and important as positive information. In 2 studies, we tested this hypothesis by examining memory for (Study 1) and visual attention to (Study 2) emotional (positive vs. negative) stimuli among younger, middle-aged, and older Chinese participants. Findings revealed that the age-related negativity reduction effect was found to a lesser extent among older Chinese individuals who were more interdependent than among those who were less interdependent.
Fung
Helene H
HH
Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Room 328 Sino Building, Chung Chi College, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China. hhlfung@psy.cuhk.edu.hk
Isaacowitz
Derek M
DM
Lu
Alice Y
AY
Li
Tianyuan
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D002681:China; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D012649:Self Concept; D012933:Social Identification; D055815:Young Adult