Psychophysiological and subjective indices of emotion as a function of age and gender

Abstract

Old, middle-aged and young persons of both genders were presented with slides containing pictorial stimuli that varied in emotional content. Each picture was rated on three dimensions: (1) valence; (2) arousal; and (3) dominance, using a 25-point scale. Heart rate, skin conductance, and forehead and cheek EMG were recorded during each slide presentation. The old and middle-aged groups showed greatly attenuated psychophysiological responses, compared to the young group. However, the old and middle-aged subjects used more extreme ratings than the young subjects on both the valence and arousal dimensions. Females were more valence-sensitive than males, but males in general used more extreme ratings of arousal than females. These results suggest a tendency to report increased felt emotion but decreased physiological response to emotional stimuli across the life span.

This research comprised the doctoral dissertation of the first author presented to the Department of Psychology at the University of South Carolina in partial fulfilment of the PhD degree.

This research comprised the doctoral dissertation of the first author presented to the Department of Psychology at the University of South Carolina in partial fulfilment of the PhD degree.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Dorn Research Institute funds awarded by the South Carolina Consortium for Geriatrics, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia, South Carolina and by VA Institutional Medical Research funds, awarded to the William Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center, Columbia, South Carolina.

The authors thank Elizabeth Hamel for assistance with preparation of the manuscript and Andrew Pringle, Jr., for assistance with preparation of the illustrations.

Notes

This research comprised the doctoral dissertation of the first author presented to the Department of Psychology at the University of South Carolina in partial fulfilment of the PhD degree.

¹Depictions of the slides used, as well as mean slide ratings for arousal and valence for each of the three age groups are available in Prescott (2000) and can be obtained free of charge from the authors.