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Choosing to be happy? Age differences in "maximizing" decision strategies and experienced emotional well-being.

ABSTRACT: Maximizing is a decision strategy that seeks the very best option, which is more elaborate and potentially more regret inducing than choosing an option that is "good enough." In surveys with a large national sample, we find that older adults are less likely than younger adults to self-report maximizing, which is associated with their better experienced well-being reported 2 years later. This pattern holds after controlling for demographic characteristics and negative life events. Our findings suggest that older adults could possibly be opting for decision strategies that make them happier. We discuss implications for interventions that aim to improve decision making. (PsycINFO Database Record

SUBMITTER: Bruine de Bruin W

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4884451 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Choosing to be happy? Age differences in "maximizing" decision strategies and experienced emotional well-being.

Bruine de Bruin Wändi W Parker Andrew M AM Strough JoNell J

Psychology and aging 20160225 3

Maximizing is a decision strategy that seeks the very best option, which is more elaborate and potentially more regret inducing than choosing an option that is "good enough." In surveys with a large national sample, we find that older adults are less likely than younger adults to self-report maximizing, which is associated with their better experienced well-being reported 2 years later. This pattern holds after controlling for demographic characteristics and negative life events. Our findings su ...[more]

PMID: 26913927

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Project description:ObjectivesMaterial well-being, beliefs, and emotional states are believed to influence one's health and longevity. In this paper, we explore racial differences in self-rated health, happiness, trust in others, feeling that society is fair, believing in God, frequency of sexual intercourse, educational attainment, and percent in poverty and their association with mortality.Study designsAge-period-cohort (APC) study.MethodsUsing data from the 1978-2014 General Social Survey-National Death Index (GSS-NDI), we conducted APC analyses using generalized linear models to quantify the temporal trends of racial differences in our selected measures of well-being, beliefs, and emotional states. We then conducted APC survival analysis using mixed-effects Cox proportional hazard models to quantify the temporal trends of racial differences in survival after removing the effects of racial differences in our selected measures.ResultsFor whites, the decline in happiness was steeper than for blacks despite an increase in high school graduation rates among whites relative to blacks over the entire period, 1978-2010. Self-rated health increased in whites relative to blacks from 1978 through 1989 but underwent a relative decline thereafter. After adjusting for age, sex, period effects, and birth cohort effects, whites, overall, had higher rates of self-rated health (odds ratio [OR] = 1.88; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.63, 2.16), happiness (OR = 2.05; 1.77, 2.36), and high school graduation (OR = 2.88; 2.34, 3.53) compared with blacks. Self-rated health, happiness, and high school graduation also mediated racial differences in survival over time.ConclusionsWe showed that some racial differences in survival could be partly mitigated by eliminating racial differences in health, happiness, and educational attainment. Future research is needed to analyze longitudinal clusters and identify causal mechanisms by which social, behavioral, and economic interventions can reduce survival differences.

Project description:Depressive symptoms have been associated with myocardial ischemia induced by mental (MSIMI) and exercise (ESIMI) stress in clinically stable ischemic heart disease (IHD) patients, but the association between positive emotions and inducible ischemia is less well characterized. The objective of this study was to examine the associations between ratings of well-being and stress-induced ischemia.Subjects were adult patients with documented IHD underwent mental and exercise stress testing for the Responses of Myocardial Ischemia to Escitalopram Treatment (REMIT) trial. The General Well-Being Schedule (GWBS), with higher scores reflecting greater subjective well-being, and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) were obtained from the REMIT participants. Echocardiography was used to measure ischemic responses to mental stress and Bruce protocol treadmill exercise testing. Data were analyzed using logistic regression adjusting for age, sex, resting left-ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and resting wall motion score index, as well as health-related behaviors.GWBS scores were obtained for 210 individuals, with MSIMI present in 92 (43.8%) and ESIMI present in 64 (30.5%). There was a significant inverse correlation between GWBS-PE (Positive Emotion subscale) scores and probability of ESIMI (OR=0.55 (95%CI 0.36-0.83), p=0.005). This association persisted after additional control for CESD subscales measuring negative and positive emotions and for variables reflecting health-related behaviors. A similar inverse correlation between GWBS-PE and MSIMI was observed, but did not reach statistical significance (OR=0.81 (95%CI 0.54-1.20), p=0.28).This is, to our knowledge, the first study demonstrating that greater levels of self-reported positive emotions are associated with a lower likelihood of ESIMI among patients with known IHD. Our results highlight the important interface functions of the central nervous and cardiovascular systems and underscore areas for future investigation.

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Choosing to be happy? Age differences in "maximizing" decision strategies and experienced emotional well-being.

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Choosing to be happy? Age differences in "maximizing" decision strategies and experienced emotional well-being.

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