AGEING & EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times discussed research from Stanford University examining the link between age and happiness.

Laura Carstensen from Stanford's Center on Longevity found that older people are likely to experience more contentment and happiness than the young. Noticing a distinct difference in the way older people perceive time, Carstensen discovered that they encounter "shrinking time zones". The less time a person perceives they have left, the more they focus on positive experiences in the present moment.

Carstensen's research also discovered a link between increased happiness and helping others, contributing a sense of purpose and meaning to the lives of older people. The happiest subjects of Carstensen's research were also found to have the greatest levels of gratitude.

Research by Neuroscientist, Michael Kisley and neuropsychologist, Stacey Wood at The University of Colorado found similar results whilst examining the brain activity of adults who were shown a variety of images, positive (beautiful sunsets), neutral (an item of furniture) and negative (a traffic accident) . Whereas younger adults paid significantly more attention to emotionally negative images, in contrast, older subjects were 30% less reactive than their younger counterparts.

Wood explains that older people who took part in the experiment were more able to control their emotions, maintaining a sense of emotional equilibrium and objectivity when confronted by negative information.

Positive psychologists have demonstrated that controlling our emotions, feeling gratitude and taking time to help others all have a significant relationship with happiness. So what are the lessons to be learned from the greater levels of happiness in older people?

Gratitude
Research has shown that we can actively increase positive emotions by keeping a diary of events for which we feel grateful. You may want to find out your current gratitude level before beginning your 'gratitude diary'. You can complete a sceintifically validated gratitude questionnaire and develop insight into your own gratitude levels on Martin Seligman's 'Authentic Happiness' website. Completing the questionnaire after a few weeks of keeping a gratitude diary will also provide evidence of change to your overall level of gratitude.

Acts of kindness
Carstensen's research demonstrated a link between helping others and happiness. Studies of the effects of kindness, such as that by Japanese researcher, Keiko Otake, suggest that people who perform acts of kindness can reap psychological benefits. The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation offers a variety of suggestions to help you get started in performing random acts of kindness. Again, before beginning the acts of kindness intervention you may find it useful to complete a questionnaire which measures your current level of happiness, such as the Fordyce Emotions Questionnaire . Repeating the questionnaire a few weeks after using this exercise will indicate any evidence of change to your current level of happiness.

"When grace is joined with wrinkles, it is adorable. There is an unspeakable dawn in happy old age. "

~ Victor Hugo~

ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS & SELF-EFFICACY

"People who regard themselves as highly efficacious act, think, and feel differently from those who perceive themselves as inefficacious. They produce their own future, rather than simply foretell it."

-Albert Bandura-

Self-Efficacy is our belief in our capabilities to organise and perform actions in order to achieve specific goals. The above quote from Albert Bandura, the leading psychologist in self-efficacy theory, describes just how powerful a strongly perceived sense of self-efficacy can be.

Defining a strong sense of self-efficacy

A person with a powerful sense of self-efficacy will typically approach any challenge with a sense of relish, actively seeking goals with which they can fully engage. They concentrate on mastering the skills necessary to achieve their chosen goal and are not easily deterred. Any setback is perceived as temporary and will be viewed as an opportunity to strengthen knowledge and skills in order to master the specific challenge. This results in a confident 'I can do it' approach. Individuals with a strong sense of self-efficacy are more able to manage their emotional states because they perceive stress to be something they can deal with easily. As a result, the immune system is enhanced and physical health is improved.


Defining a perceived lack of self-efficacy
A person with little belief in their efficacy typically has a greater focus on risk and possible failure than positive outcomes and is therefore more likely to avoid challenging situations. Where goal setting is concerned their concentration is drawn towards failings rather than abilities and recovery from setback is less than easy. They tend to give up on goals more easily due to minimal belief in their abilities. The negative consequences of stress, including depression, are more prevalent amongst those with a lower sense of self- efficacy.


How we develop beliefs about efficacy
There are four major influences on how we develop self-efficacy, these are:

• mastery experiences


• vicarious experiences


• social persuasion


• reduce and alter reactions to stress

Mastery experiences

Experiences of success are the most effective way to build a strong sense of efficacy. Setting a goal and achieving it helps us to master specific knowledge and skills, developing the belief that we can capably use such skills for future goal setting.

Vicarious experiences

Through watching people we perceive to be similar to ourselves and observing them achieve their goals we increase our beliefs that we too can meet such challenges successfully. Perceived similarity plays a significant role here. The more we perceive ourselves to be like our model the more strongly we are influenced by our observations of their successess and failures. If we observe success our belief that we too can succeed is strengthened. If failure is observed, we are more likely to believe the task will be equally difficult for us. Such modelling also provides an opportunity to learn the skills and knowledge necessary for success.

Social persuasion

This is where an individual is able to assuage the self doubt of another, who possesses a low sense of self-efficacy, strengthening belief in their ability to succeed. Such encouragement results in increased effort to persevere and realise goals.

Reduce and alter reactions to stress

Reactions to physical and emotional states is also significant in how an individual judges their capabilities. Those with a strong sense of self-efficacy will perceive their reactions to physical fatigue as a challenge, enabling them to feel energized and focused on achieving goals. Those with a lower sense of self-efficacy perceive physical challenge and fatigue as evidence of their inabilities and deficiencies. Reactions to stress are dealt with in a similar vein, those with a lower sense of self-efficacy interpret stress as being indicative of an inability to perform whereas individuals with a strong sense of self-efficacy perceive stress within a more positive framework.

"Persons who have a strong sense of efficacy deploy their attention and effort to the demands of the situation and are spurred by obstacles to greater effort."

-Albert Bandura-