Emotion, Aging, and Decision Making

项目摘要/摘要 我们每天都会做出影响健康的重要健康决定，比如是否锻炼。 结果，从我们的身体到精神和认知健康。这样的决定变得更加 随着我们年龄的增长，由于晚年生活中的脆弱性增加，包括患痴呆症的风险(例如， 阿尔茨海默病)。根据有证据表明，随着年龄的增长，体力活动减少，如何 我们能在晚年促进健康的决策吗？拟议的项目侧重于社会情感方面。 决策制定，这可能会对老年人产生特别的影响，因为有记录的 动机转向积极的和有社会意义的目标。我们之前的工作已经证明 积极的情感在鼓励老年人锻炼方面发挥着关键作用。与此相关的是，我们发现年龄更大的 成年人更受社会目标的驱使去锻炼，而年轻人则更受社会目标的驱使 工具性目标。有证据表明，积极的情感对身心健康特别有益 健康当社会共享时，这项拟议的工作将研究共享的积极影响如何影响健康-- 相关决策和行为。最后，现有证据表明，尽管老年人通常受益于 从心理、身体和认知健康的角度来看，痴呆症的遗传风险会缓和健康。 锻炼的好处，这将在本项目中考虑。这项研究在翻译方面具有创新性。 运用情感、认知和衰老理论和研究的洞察力来理解前因 和锻炼决策在年轻人和老年人中的后果，(B)概念化 决策的社会和情感方面，(C)开发一种新的信息框架方法， 纳入了社会影响，以及(D)对运动与健康联系的影响的新评估。这个 拟议的研究将检查在健康中起作用的潜在的情感和社会机制 决策和行为。具体地说，这项研究将：(1)建立对社会和 在与健康相关的决策中，情绪过程有助于年龄差异，(2)决定如何社交 情绪因素影响锻炼的参与度、坚持性和维持性，以及(3)探讨如何分享 痴呆症的积极情绪和遗传风险可能会影响锻炼对老年人健康益处的影响 成年人。这些目标将通过实验室实验、实地研究和干预研究来实现。通过 为了追求这些目标，这个项目承诺增加我们对社会和情感的作用的理解 老年人和年轻人的健康相关决策过程，并更好地为处方提供信息 关于如何最好地激励健康行为的建议。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Every day we make important health decisions – such as whether to exercise or not – that impact health outcomes, from our physical to mental and cognitive health. Such decisions become all the more consequential as we age, given increased vulnerabilities in later life including risk for dementia (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease). In light of evidence documenting decreased physical activity with advanced age, how can we promote healthy decision making in late life? The proposed project focuses on socioemotional aspects of decision making, which may become particularly influential for older adults because of documented motivational shifts toward positivity and socially meaningful goals. Our previous work has demonstrated that positive affect plays a critical role in encouraging older adults to exercise. Relatedly, we have found that older adults are more motivated by social goals to exercise, whereas younger adults are more motivated by instrumental goals. Drawing from evidence that positive affect is particularly beneficial to mental and physical health when socially shared, the proposed work will examine how shared positive affect may influence health- related decisions and behavior. Finally, existing evidence indicates that although older adults generally benefit from exercise in terms of mental, physical, and cognitive health, genetic risk for dementia moderates the health benefits of exercise, which will be considered in this project. This research is innovative in its (a) translational application of insights from affective, cognitive, and aging theory and research to understand the antecedents and consequences of exercise decision making in younger and older adults, (b) conceptualization of both the social and emotional aspects of decision making, (c) development of a novel method for message framing that incorporates social influences, and (d) novel assessments of influences on the exercise-health link. The proposed research will examine the underlying affective and social mechanisms that play a role in health decisions and behavior. Specifically, this research will: (1) establish an understanding of how social and emotional processes contribute to age differences in health-related decision making, (2) determine how social and emotional factors impact exercise engagement, adherence, and maintenance, and (3) probe how shared positive affect and genetic risk for dementia may influence the effects of exercise on the health benefits in older adults. These aims will be met through laboratory experiments, field studies, and intervention studies. By pursuing these aims, this project promises to increase our understanding of the role of social and emotional processes in health-related decision making in older and younger adult, and to better inform prescriptive recommendations for how to best motivate healthy behaviors.