ADULTS REASONING ABOUT PROBLEMS IN SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS

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The deleterious effects of negative social interactions for psychological well-being have been clearly established. Older adults consistently report fewer problems in their close social relationships than do younger adults. Decreased interpersonal tensions do not appear to reflect dissolution of difficult relationships. Rather, older adults appear to think about and manage interpersonal problems differently than do younger adults. The proposed study addresses social cognitive processes underlying management of problems in social relationships across adulthood. Twenty well-educated, healthy men and women in each of 4 different age groups: 20-29, 40-49, 60-69, and 80+ will participate. To date, few studies of social cognition have differentiated young-old from old-old participants. Reasoning about interpersonal problems will be assessed by asking participants how they manage tensions with people whom they have named in a network of their closest social ties and with people whom they have named in a network of their most distressful social ties. Open-ended responses will be coded building on previous research. Older adults are expected to use more integrated approaches to manage relationship problems and to accept the other person's weakness. Younger adults are expected to engage in more active efforts to communicate and to change the other person. The proposed study has implications for interventions with older adults who are experiencing interpersonal problems. Current psychological practice emphasizes direct communication to resolve relationship difficulties, but different approaches may be more appropriate for older populations.