Personality and obesity across the adult life span.

Personality traits contribute to health outcomes, in part through their association with major controllable risk factors, such as obesity. Body weight, in turn, reflects our behaviors and lifestyle and contributes to the way we perceive ourselves and others. In this study, the authors use data from a large (N = 1,988) longitudinal study that spanned more than 50 years to examine how personality traits are associated with multiple measures of adiposity and with fluctuations in body mass index (BMI). Using 14,531 anthropometric assessments, the authors modeled the trajectory of BMI across adulthood and tested whether personality predicted its rate of change. Measured concurrently, participants higher on Neuroticism or Extraversion or lower on Conscientiousness had higher BMI; these associations replicated across body fat, waist, and hip circumference. The strongest association was found for the impulsivity facet: Participants who scored in the top 10% of impulsivity weighed, on average, 11Kg more than those in the bottom 10%. Longitudinally, high Neuroticism and low Conscientiousness, and the facets of these traits related to difficulty with impulse control, were associated with weight fluctuations, measured as the variability in weight over time. Finally, low Agreeableness and impulsivity-related traits predicted a greater increase in BMI across the adult life span. BMI was mostly unrelated to change in personality traits. Personality traits are defined by cognitive, emotional, and behavioral patterns that likely contribute to unhealthy weight and difficulties with weight management. Such associations may elucidate the role of personality traits in disease progression and may help to design more effective interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adults' conceptions of intelligence across the adult life span.

To examine whether young, middle-aged, and older adults view the concept of intelligent person as similar or different during adulthood, 140 adults of various ages rated how likely it would be for individuals of average and exceptional intelligence at 30, 50, and 70 yrs of age to be engaged in behaviors previously identified by adults as characterizing adult intelligence. Adults perceived more similarity between exceptionally intelligent prototypes of closer ages (i.e., 30 and 50 yrs; 50 and 70 yrs). Intelligence was perceived to consist of interest and ability to deal with novelty, everyday competence, and verbal competence (dimensions that were perceived to be differentially important for different-aged prototypes and by individuals of different ages). Participants' conceptions also included the idea that intelligence is malleable and that abilities differentially increase or decrease across the life span. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The salience of emotion across the adult life span.

Recent research on emotion has rendered equivocal traditional views of diminished emotionality in late life. This study focused on the salience of emotion in 83 Ss aged 20–83 yrs. Using an incidental memory paradigm, Ss read a narrative containing equivalent amounts of emotional and neutral information. Salience was measured by the proportion of emotional versus neutral phrases recalled at the end of a 1-hr experimental session. Contrary to models of diminished emotionality, results suggest that the relative salience of emotion increases linearly with age and cohort. Results are discussed within the framework of cognitive theories of adult development and socioemotional selectivity theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Models of visuospatial and verbal memory across the adult life span.

The authors investigated the distinctiveness and interrelationships among visuospatial and verbal memory processes in short-term, working, and long-term memories in 345 adults. Beginning in the 20s, a continuous, regular decline occurs for processing-intensive tasks (e.g., speed of processing, working memory, and long-term memory), whereas verbal knowledge increases across the life span. There is little differentiation in the cognitive architecture of memory across the life span. Visuospatial and verbal working memory are distinct but highly interrelated systems with domain-specific short-term memory subsystems. In contrast to recent neuroimaging data, there is little evidence for dedifferentiation of function at the behavioral level in old compared with young adults. The authors conclude that efforts to connect behavioral and brain data yield a more complete understanding of the aging mind. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motives in American men and women across the adult life span.

The stability and change in four social motives (achievement, affiliation, fear of weakness, hope of power) over the adult life cycle were investigated in two surveys representative of the American population. One sample of 1,363 respondents was drawn in 1957; the other of 1,208 respondents, in 1976. Motives were assessed by established procedures that coded thematic apperceptive content for motivational imagery. Some age differences in motives were evident in both samples: Women's achievement and affiliation motives decline in older ages; men's hope of power is distinctly high at mid-life. These major age effects were found to depend on work and family patterns. By and large, however, the strength of the motives is remarkably similar over different age groups. Year and education differences moderate some of these results. Although not robust, indications of some cohort stability in certain motives emerge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The structure of working memory abilities across the adult life span.

The present study addresses three questions regarding age differences in working memory: (1) whether performance on complex span tasks decreases as a function of age at a faster rate than performance on simple span tasks; (2) whether spatial working memory decreases at a faster rate than verbal working memory; and (3) whether the structure of working memory abilities is different for different age groups. Adults, ages 20–89 (n = 388), performed three simple and three complex verbal span tasks and three simple and three complex spatial memory tasks. Performance on the spatial tasks decreased at faster rates as a function of age than performance on the verbal tasks, but within each domain, performance on complex and simple span tasks decreased at the same rates. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that domain-differentiated models yielded better fits than models involving domain-general constructs, providing further evidence of the need to distinguish verbal and spatial working memory abilities. Regardless of which domain-differentiated model was examined, and despite the faster rates of decrease in the spatial domain, age group comparisons revealed that the factor structure of working memory abilities was highly similar in younger and older adults and showed no evidence of age-related dedifferentiation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Body image across the life span in adult women: The role of self-objectification.

This study aimed to investigate women's body image across the entire life span from within the theoretical perspective provided by objectification theory (B. L. Fredrickson & T.-A. Roberts, 1997). In a cross-sectional study, a sample of 322 women ranging in age from 20 to 84 years completed a questionnaire measuring body dissatisfaction, self-objectification, and its proposed consequences. Although body dissatisfaction remained stable across the age range, self-objectification, habitual body monitoring, appearance anxiety, and disordered eating symptomatology all significantly decreased with age. Self-objectification was found to mediate the relationship between age and disordered eating symptomatology. It was concluded that objectification theory helps clarify the processes involved in the changes in body image that occur with age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structural invariance of cognitive abilities across the adult life span: A cross-sectional study.

This study examined the hypothesis that psychometric tests retain equivalent factor structures across samples widely differing in age. We estimated a best-fitting measurement model for 17 psychometric tests covering the 5 primary abilities of Inductive Reasoning, Spatial Orientation, Verbal Ability, Numerical Ability, and Perceptual Speed, using a sample of 1,621 participants (ages 22 to 95) from the 5th wave of the Seattle Longitudinal Study. We disaggregated the participants into 9 subsets (M ages?=?29, 39, 46, 53, 60, 67, 74, 81, and 90) and tesed the fit of the accepted model for each subset. We confirmed configural invariance for all subsets, but could not establish either complete or incomplete metric invariance for any set. These results confirm the stability of factor patterns across age but indicate serious limitations for valid cross-age comparisons of individual markers of psychometric abilities in age-comparative studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional reactivity across the adult life span: The cognitive pragmatics make a difference.

Previously, we found that during films about age-typical losses, older adults experienced greater sadness than young adults, whereas their physiological responses were just as large. In the present study, our goal was to replicate this finding and extend past work by examining the role of cognitive functioning in age differences in emotional reactivity. We measured the autonomic and subjective responses of 240 adults (age range = 20 to 70) while they viewed films about age-typical losses from our previous work. Findings were fully supportive of our past work: The magnitude of subjective reactions to our films increased linearly over the adult years, whereas there were no age differences on the level of physiological reactivity. We also found that the subjective reactions of adults with high pragmatic intelligence were of moderate size independent of their own age or the age relevance of the emotion elicitor. In contrast, the subjective reactions of adults low on pragmatic intelligence were more variable. Together, this evidence suggests that research on age differences in emotional reactivity may benefit from a perspective that considers individual difference variables as well as contextual variations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences in the functional neuroanatomy of inhibitory control across the adult life span.

Inhibitory control, the ability to suppress irrelevant stimuli, is a fundamental cognitive function that deteriorates during aging, but little is understood about the bases of decline. Thus, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study inhibitory control in healthy adults aged 18 to 78. Activation during "successful inhibition" occurred predominantly in right prefrontal and parietal regions and was more extensive, bilaterally, and prefrontally, in the older groups. Presupplementary motor area was also more active in poorer inhibitory performers. Therefore, older adults activate areas that are comparable to those activated by young adults during inhibition, as well as additional regions. The results are consistent with a compensatory interpretation and extend the aging neuroimaging literature into the cognitive domain of inhibition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in personality across the adult life span: Parallels in five cultures.

Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in the United States have shown consistent changes between college age and middle adulthood. There appear to be declines in 3 of the 5 major factors of personality-Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness-and increases in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. To examine cross-cultural generalizability of these findings, translations of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory were administered to samples in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Croatia, and South Korea (N?=?7,363). Similar patterns of age differences were seen in each country, for both men and women. Common trends were also seen for the more specific traits that define the major factors. Because these nations differ substantially in culture and recent history, results suggest the hypothesis that these are universal maturational changes in adult personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Regret and quality of life across the adult life span: The influence of disengagement and available future goals.

Two studies examined the associations between life regrets and indicators of quality of life across the adult life span. Given that opportunities to undo regrets decline with age, regret intensity was expected to be inversely associated with subjective well-being and health among older adults. In addition, the research explored protective factors that have the potential to reduce older adults' regret intensity. It was suggested that being disengaged from undoing the consequences of regrets and having many future goals available may reduce older adults' intensity of regret and thereby contribute to a better quality of life. Across both studies, the findings demonstrate that older adults perceived reduced opportunities to undo the consequences of their regrets and that regret intensity predicted a reduced quality of life only among older adults. Furthermore, the findings support the adaptive value of disengagement and available future goals for managing life regrets in older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotion experience and expression across the adult life span: Insights from a multimodal assessment study.

This investigation represents a multimodal study of age-related differences in experienced and expressed affect and in emotion regulatory skills in a sample of young, middle-aged, and older adults (N = 96), testing formulations derived from differential emotions theory. The experimental session consisted of a 10-min anger induction and a 10-min sadness induction using a relived emotion task; participants were also randomly assigned to an inhibition or noninhibition condition. In addition to subjective ratings of emotional experience provided by participants, their facial behavior was coded using an objective facial affect coding system; a content analysis also was applied to the emotion narratives. Separate repeated measures analyses of variance applied to each emotion domain indicated age differences in the co-occurrence of negative emotions and co-occurrence of positive and negative emotions across domains, thus extending the finding of emotion heterogeneity or complexity in emotion experience to facial behavior and verbal narratives. The authors also found that the inhibition condition resulted in a different pattern of results in the older versus middle-aged and younger adults. The intensity and frequency of discrete emotions were similar across age groups, with a few exceptions. Overall, the findings were generally consistent with differential emotions theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive efficacy across the life span: Introduction to the special series.

A brief background and the rationale for examining personal beliefs of efficacy and control as related to adulthood cognition and memory are presented in this introduction to the special series. The research presented in the series draws on theory and research from several fields, including personality and social psychology, child development, and social learning and cognition. Although particular emphasis is placed on the self-efficacy construct (A. Bandura; see record 1977-25733-001) and its utility in studying cognitive behavior in adults, this introduction also highlights related work on achievement behavior in children (e.g., C. S. Dweck, 1975, see also PA, Vol 74:8696; D. H. Schunk, see PA, Vols 65:8787 and 69:1968). The series comprises four empirical articles and one conceptual commentary. In the commentary, Bandura argues that self-efficacy judgments are powerful determinants of, yet are also determined by, human cognition, affect, and behavior. It is this theoretical framework that guided the research presented in this series. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Curiosity and stimulation seeking across the adult life span: Cross-sectional and 6- to 8-year longitudinal findings.

L. M. Giambra (1977–1978, 1979–1980) found that 2 scales of the Imaginal Processes Inventory measuring curiosity (i.e., information seeking) did not change across the adult life span, but 2 measuring stimulation seeking (i.e., boredom) for external stimulation need significantly decreased with age. In this study, these outcomes were replicated (1,356 men and 1,080 women [aged 17–92 yrs]). In addition, a 6- to 8-yr longitudinal repeat was obtained on 222 men and 124 women. Significant longitudinal declines were obtained for the stimulation-seeking measures. Furthermore, women showed an increase in impersonal–mechanical curiosity and a decline in interpersonal curiosity, though the amount of change was modest. Men were unchanged on both curiosity measures. Gender differences in longitudinal changes apparently reflected effects of socialization as well as tendencies toward displaying increased androgyny with advancing age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual orientation across the life span: Introduction to the special section.

What impact does sexual orientation have on human development over the life span? As questions related to sexual orientation have become increasingly topics of public discussion and debate in recent years, psychological study of the issues has also burgeoned. What was once a new frontier for research has matured into a large, complex, and rapidly growing area of knowledge. Important research is being conducted on many issues, by diverse investigators, from a number of theoretical perspectives, in many parts of the world. The articles in this special section provide only a sampling of current research, but they begin to suggest the vitality and excitement of a field that is coming into its own. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A developmental-contextual model of couples coping with chronic illness across the adult life span.

A developmental-contextual model of couples coping with chronic illness is presented that views chronic illness as affecting the adjustment of both the patient and the spouse such that coping strategies enacted by the patient are examined in relation to those enacted by the spouse, and vice versa. The developmental model emphasizes that dyadic coping may be different at various phases of the life span, changing temporally at different stages of dealing with the illness as well as unfolding daily as spouses interact around dyadic stressors. In addition, couples engaged in dyadic coping are affected by broad sociocultural factors (culture and gender) as well as more proximal contextual factors (quality of the marital relationship and the specific demands of the chronic illness). The model provides a framework for understanding how couples coping with chronic illness may together appraise and cope with illness during adulthood and for determining when spousal involvement is beneficial or harmful to both patient and spousal adjustment. The developmental-contextual model to dyadic appraisal and coping has numerous research implications for the field, and the authors conclude with specific recommendations for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stability of babyfaceness and attractiveness across the life span.

Differential, structural, and absolute stability of babyfaceness and attractiveness at 5 ages were investigated. Attractiveness had differential stability across the life span. Babyfaceness had differential stability from childhood through the 30s for males and through adolescence for females. Consistent with sexual dimorphisms in facial maturation, males had less differential stability in babyfaceness from childhood to puberty than females. Structural stability of facial appearance, as reflected in the relationship between babyfaceness and attractiveness across the life span, was low, with these qualities positively related for females in childhood and for both sexes in their 30s and 50s but unrelated in puberty and adolescence. Absolute stability of babyfaceness and attractiveness was also low, with mean levels decreasing across the life span. Contrary to cultural stereotypes, age-related decreases in attractiveness were equal for male and female Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Six-year change in affect optimization and affect complexity across the adult life span: A further examination.

This study examines the life course of 2 independent components of adult affective development, 1 aimed at differentiation and complexity, the other aimed at optimization and positive emotional balance. These 2 components are predicted to have different developmental trajectories over the adult life span and to become related in a compensatory fashion under conditions of resource restrictions, such as those related to late life. Using individual growth curve estimation, we modeled 6-year longitudinal changes in the 2 components in a total sample of 388 individuals ranging in age from 15 to 88 years. As predicted, initial level of affect optimization was positively associated with age up to late middle age with a subsequent leveling off; individual rates of change were found to decelerate with age up to age 60 years and accelerate again around age 80 years. For affect complexity, initial level of affect complexity was positively associated with age up to age 45 years and negatively associated with age from then on, whereas individual rates of change were negatively associated with age, and this association tended to get stronger with age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)