Psychology for Seniors
basic topics presented especially for senior citizens

 

Motivation & Emotion

The image of Grampa Abe and his Springfield Retirement Castle friends, from the Simpsons, is deliberately exaggerated.  However, it is reflective of a broader cultural idea of old age as a time of mental and physical decline, social isolation and emotional difficulty. However, that image is not consistent with what psychologists are learning about how real seniors--not cartoon characters--feel about their lives.

Two new studies in the June, 2003, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General and Emotion, add to the growing body of work suggesting that, whatever the problems of aging may be, an increase in negative emotions isn't necessarily among them.

Studies suggest that negative memories become increasingly rare as we age, and the physiological responses they elicit become weaker and weaker.

Source:  http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun03/younger.html

"People who make no noise are dangerous."

Jean de la Fontaine, Fables, 1678