Multidirectional age differences in anger and sadness.

Age differences in anger and sadness were explored, focusing on the intensity and frequency of these experiences in everyday life and their implicit associations with the self. Ninety-six young and older adults participated in the Day Reconstruction Method, in which emotional experiences on a typical day were recorded, and in 2 implicit association tests assessing implicit self-concepts for anger and sadness. Older adults experienced anger less frequently and less intensively than young adults, but there were no age differences in sadness. In comparison with their younger counterparts, older adults showed a greater IAT effect in the implicit anger test, suggesting a weaker association between the self and anger, but there were no age differences in the implicit sadness test, suggesting age-invariant associations between the self and sadness. Together these findings suggest multidirectional age differences in negative affect and the usefulness of a discrete emotions approach for research interested in emotional aging.