Emotion, Aging, and Health

Book excerpt: Although older adults may face significant health challenges, they tend to have better emotion regulation skills than younger or middle-age adults. Why is this and how might we use this knowledge to promote better health and well-being in adulthood and later life? Emotion, Aging, and Health explores the reciprocal relations between aging and emotion as well as how best to promote mental and physical health across the lifespan. The authors discuss the neural and cognitive mechanisms behind age-related shifts in affective experience and processing. In addition to presenting emotion-regulation strategies for offsetting age-related declines in mental and physical functioning, they examines the role of culture and motivation in shaping emotional experience across the lifespan along with the factors that determine human illness and human flourishing in old age. By highlighting these major advances in interdisciplinary research, the authors suggest promising avenues for intervention. Book jacket.