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Psicothema was founded in Asturias (northern Spain) in 1989, and is published jointly by the Psychology Faculty of the University of Oviedo and the Psychological Association of the Principality of Asturias (Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos del Principado de Asturias).
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Psicothema, 2008. Vol. Vol. 20 (nº 4). 616-622




Experiencia y regulación emocional a lo largo de la etapa adulta del ciclo vital: análisis comparativo en tres grupos de edad

María Márquez-González, María Izal Fernández de Trocóniz, Ignacio Montorio Cerrato y Andrés Losada Baltar*

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid y * Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid

Los estudios que analizan las diferencias asociadas a la edad en la experiencia y la regulación emocional son escasos y han sido realizados en su mayoría con población estadounidense. Este estudio explora, en población adulta española, las diferencias asociadas a la edad en variables relacionadas con la experiencia emocional (bienestar subjetivo e intensidad emocional) y la regulación emocional (control emocional subjetivo y tres mecanismos de regulación emocional: selección de situaciones, rumiación y supresión emocional). Participan 160 personas pertenecientes a tres grupos distintos de edad: jóvenes, mediana edad y mayores. Los resultados revelan que las personas mayores presentan un menor nivel de satisfacción con la vida y de intensidad emocional positiva que las jóvenes, así como una mayor puntuación que éstas en control emocional percibido, moderación del afecto positivo, madurez emocional y supresión emocional. Los resultados apoyan parcialmente la hipótesis de la madurez emocional asociada al envejecimiento y sugieren peculiaridades del control emocional en las personas mayores no analizadas hasta el momento, tales como la moderación de su experiencia emocional, particularmente de las emociones positivas.

Emotional experience and regulation across the adult lifespan: Comparative analysis in three age groups. The studies focused on age-related differences in emotional experience are still scarce, and most of them have been conducted with North-American samples. This study explores the presence of age-related differences in some facets of emotional experience (subjective well-being and emotional intensity), as well as in variables related to emotion regulation (subjective emotional control and three emotion-regulation mechanisms: situation selection, emotion suppression, rumination) in the Spanish population. One hundred and sixty people from three age groups (younger, middle-aged and older adults) participated in the study. Older participants reported lower levels of life satisfaction and positive emotional intensity than younger ones, as well as higher levels of perceived emotional control, emotional maturity and leveling of positive affect, and more use of emotion suppression. The results partially support the emotional maturity hypothesis of emotional functioning in old age, but also suggest that older adults’ emotional regulation may present important peculiarities which have not yet been addressed in the extant literature, such as the moderation or limitation of emotional experience, especially positive emotions.

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