Age and trust as moderators in the relation between procedural justice and turnover: a large-scale longitudinal study

Item does not contain fulltextThe current study investigated the moderating roles of age and trust in the relation of procedural justice with turnover. It was expected that the relation between procedural justice and turnover was weaker for older workers and those with high prior trust in their leader. Older workers are better at regulating their emotions, and focus more on positive aspects of their relationships with others, and therefore react less intensely to unfair treatment. Moreover, people with high trust are more likely to attribute unfair treatment to circumstances instead of deliberate intention than people with low trust. Finally, we expected a three-way interaction between age, trust, and procedural justice in relation to turnover, where older workers with high trust would have less strong reactions than younger workers and older workers with low trust. Results from a three-wave longitudinal survey among 1,597 Dutch employees indeed revealed significant interactions between trust and procedural justice in relation to turnover. Furthermore, the three-way interaction was significant, with negative relations for younger workers, but a non-significant relation was found for older workers with low trust. Contrary to expectations, negative relations were found between procedural justice and turnover for older workers with high trust

Aging is associated with positive responding to neutral information but reduced recovery from negative information

Studies on aging and emotion suggest an increase in reported positive affect, a processing bias of positive over negative information, as well as increasingly adaptive regulation in response to negative events with advancing age. These findings imply that older individuals evaluate information differently, resulting in lowered reactivity to, and/or faster recovery from, negative information, while maintaining more positive responding to positive information. We examined this hypothesis in an ongoing study on Midlife in the US (MIDUS II) where emotional reactivity and recovery were assessed in a large number of respondents (N = 159) from a wide age range (36–84 years). We recorded eye-blink startle magnitudes and corrugator activity during and after the presentation of positive, neutral and negative pictures. The most robust age effect was found in response to neutral stimuli, where increasing age is associated with a decreased corrugator and eyeblink startle response to neutral stimuli. These data suggest that an age-related positivity effect does not essentially alter the response to emotion-laden information, but is reflected in a more positive interpretation of affectively ambiguous information. Furthermore, older women showed reduced corrugator recovery from negative pictures relative to the younger women and men, suggesting that an age-related prioritization of well-being is not necessarily reflected in adaptive regulation of negative affect

Mothers, Fathers, Daughters, and Sons: Gender Differences in Adults Intergenerational Ties.

Women are more involved in family ties than men, but these differences may vary across generations as gender roles have shifted. We know little about gender patterns across generations in the same family, however. To address this gap, midlife men and women aged 40-60 (n = 633) from the Family Exchanges Study reported on relationships with each aging parent and each grown child. Mothers were more involved (e.g., more frequent contact, greater positive and negative relationship qualities, and more frequent support exchanges) than fathers in both generations, with parental gender differences stronger in the older generation. Offspring gender differences were generally consistent across generations, with daughters more involved by phone in emotional forms of support, and in negative relationship quality; these gender differences were stronger in the younger generation than the older ones. We discuss pervasive gender differences that favor mothers, as well as shifts in gender differences across generations

Does Empathy Have a Cost? Older Adults and Social Partners Experiencing Problems.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Empathy underlies older adults awareness and responses to their social partners needs, but it is unclear whether such awareness is beneficial or harmful to older adults well-being. We examined whether older adults empathy was associated with having encounters with social partners incurring problems and their own well-being throughout the day. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Participants were adults aged more than 65 years from the Daily Experiences and Well-being Study. These older adults (n = 313) rated empathy and indicated social partners problems (e.g., health, emotional, and financial problems) in a baseline interview. They also reported encounters with social partners and their mood every 3 hr over 5-6 days. RESULTS: Multiple regressions showed that more empathic older adults reported a greater proportion of social partners with major life problems than less empathic older adults. Older adults empathy was not associated with their contact or negative encounters with social partners experiencing problems. Multilevel models revealed that encounters with these social partners had negative consequences for older adults mood throughout the day; however, these consequences were reduced in more empathic older adults. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: This study emphasizes the importance of empathy in late life and refines our understanding of older adults social lives and well-being. Findings carry implications for interventions that aim to protect older adults well-being when their close others incur crises

Older Adults Empathy and Daily Support Exchanges.

Older adults empathy may shape the frequency and types of support that they exchange with their social partners as well as the implications of these exchanges. This study drew on the Daily Experiences and Well-being Study, which included adults aged 65 and over and tracked them across 5 to 6 days using mobile phone surveys. Participants (n = 293) rated their empathy and reported their daily support exchanges (e.g., emotional support, instrumental support, advice) as well as mood. Findings showed that more empathic older adults provided each type of support more often. They also received more emotional support than less empathic older adults. Moreover, older adults empathy moderated the associations between providing support and their daily mood. More empathic older adults maintained their mood regardless of whether they provided support. By contrast, less empathic older adults reported reduced positive mood on days when they provided emotional support and increased positive mood when they provided instrumental support. Greater empathy is associated with more frequent support exchanges; however, more empathic older adults appear immune to such exchanges in terms of their mood. Interestingly, less empathic older adults may find providing emotional support draining but instrumental support rewarding, probably because they are less equipped to cope with others emotions

Enduring Bonds: Duration and Contact in Close Relationships in Late Life.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Older adults maintain ties to long-duration social partners, some with whom have regular contact and some with whom have little contact. We asked whether these ties with little contact still offer a sense of connection and security, and buffer the effects of interpersonal stress in daily life. Helping older adults foster these ties may improve their mental health. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Participants (n = 313) aged 65+ completed a baseline interview reporting duration and contact frequency of their closest ties. Then, participants completed ecological momentary assessments every 3 hr for 5-6 days, reporting their social encounters and mood. RESULTS: We classified ties according to duration (10+ years = long vs shorter duration) and frequency of contact (at least once a month = active vs dormant). Throughout the day, participants were more likely to have stressful encounters with long-duration active ties. Encounters with active ties were associated with more positive mood (regardless of duration) and encounters with long-duration dormant ties with more negative mood. Having more active ties buffered effects of interpersonal stress on mood, but more long-duration dormant ties exacerbated these effects. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Supporting social integration theory, ties with frequent contact were associated with positive mood. Surprisingly, long-duration ties with infrequent contact exacerbated effects of interpersonal stress on mood. Older adults who lack contact with long-duration social partners may be more sensitive to interpersonal stress. Future interventions might focus on phone or electronic media to increase contact with long-duration social partners

Empathy is associated with older adults’ social behaviors and verbal emotional expressions throughout the day

Empathy plays a crucial role in promoting older adults' interpersonal experiences, but it remains unclear how these benefits of empathy occur. To address this gap, we examined associations between empathy and how older adults behave and express emotions during their daily interpersonal encounters. Participants included 268 adults aged 65+ (46% men, n = 124) from the Daily Experiences and Well-being Study. They reported background characteristics and empathy in baseline interviews and indicated interpersonal encounters every 3 hours across 5 to 6 days. Participants wore electronically activated recorders (EAR), an app that captured 30-second snippets of ambient sounds every 7 minutes. Verbatim transcripts were coded for positive and negative social behaviors (e.g., praise, complain) and text was analyzed via Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software for verbal expressions of positive and negative emotions (e.g., happy, hope, hate, hurt). Multilevel models showed that greater empathy was associated with greater variety in positive social behaviors throughout the day. More empathic older adults expressed more positive emotions while engaging in positive behaviors and less negative emotions when engaging in negative behaviors. This study innovatively draws on naturalistic data to delineate how more empathic older adults may have more positive and less negative social experiences than their less empathic counterparts. Findings may inform interventions that can incorporate empathy training to target those at higher risk of poor interpersonal experiences and outcomes (e.g., social isolation)

Helicopter Parents and Landing Pad Kids: Intense Parental Support of Grown Children

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/92448/1/j.1741-3737.2012.00987.x.pd

Recent Parental Death and Relationship Qualities Between Midlife Adults and Their Grown Children

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149257/1/jomf12549_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149257/2/jomf12549.pd

Social Network Typologies of Black and White Married Couples in Midlife

Although research shows that conjoint social networks are associated with well‐being among newlyweds, little is known about how these network types are linked to marital quality and psychological well‐being for long‐term married couples and about potential race differences in their configurations and associations. Using a pattern‐centered approach to examine the social networks of 91 White and 62 Black couples in their 16th year of marriage, this study revealed four couple network types (friend‐focused, wife family‐focused, bilateral family‐focused, and diverse). Results suggested that spouses in the wife family‐focused network type (characterized by above‐average contact with the wife’s family and below average contact with the husband’s family and with nonkin) reported the lowest positive marital quality and highest negative marital quality. The association of network type with negative marital quality was also moderated by gender and race. The findings highlight the importance of considering the meaningful complexity within couples’ shared networks.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136463/1/jomf12330.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136463/2/jomf12330_am.pd