title: Emotion perception explains age-related differences in the perception of social gaffes.
abstract: Young (<36 years) and older (>59) adults viewed videos in which the same individual committed a faux pas, or acted appropriately, toward his coworkers. Older participants did not discriminate appropriate and inappropriate behaviors as well as young participants. Older participants also scored lower than young participants on an extensive battery of emotion recognition tests, and emotion performance fully mediated age differences in faux pas discrimination. The results provide further evidence for the role of emotion perception in a range of important social deficits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Otago. jhalbers@psy.otago.ac.nz
authors.forename: Jamin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Halberstadt
authors.forename: Ted
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ruffman
authors.forename: Janice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.forename: Mele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taumoepeau
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ryan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003071:Cognition; D056348:Emotional Intelligence; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012919:Social Behavior; D012938:Social Perception; D055815:Young Adult