Personal and collective mental time travel across the adult lifespan

We replicated the collective negativity bias and future-oriented positivity bias, indicating the robustness of these phenomena. However, the pattern of age-related positivity diverged for personal events such that young adults exhibited similar positivity to older adults and more positivity than middle-aged adults. Finally, consistent with theoretical proposals of better emotion regulation with age, older adults reported more muted excitement and worry for the long-term future compared to young adults.

June 15, 2023 · Lois K. Burnett*, Tori Peña*, Suparna Rajaram, Lauren Richmond