Open AccessExplaining age differences in the memory-experience gap.
Author(s) -
Doerte U. Junghaenel,
Joan E. Broderick,
Stefan Schneider,
Cheng Wen,
Hio Wa Mak,
Sarah Goldstein,
Marilyn Mendez,
Arthur A. Stone
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
psychology and aging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.468
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1939-1498
pISSN - 0882-7974
DOI - 10.1037/pag0000628
Subject(s) - psychology , loneliness , psycinfo , affect (linguistics) , recall , young adult , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , medline , communication , political science , law , cognitive psychology
Emotions and symptoms are often overestimated in retrospective ratings, a phenomenon referred to as the "memory-experience gap." Some research has shown that this gap is less pronounced among older compared to younger adults for self-reported negative affect, but it is not known whether these age differences are evident consistently across domains of well-being and why these age differences emerge. In this study, we examined age differences in the memory-experience gap for emotional (positive and negative affect), social (loneliness), and physical (pain, fatigue) well-being. We also tested four variables that could plausibly explain age differences in the gap: (a) episodic memory and executive functioning, (b) the age-related positivity effect, (c) variability of daily experiences, and (d) socially desirable responding. Adults (n = 477) from three age groups (21-44, 45-64, 65+ years old) participated in a 21-day diary study. Participants completed daily end-of-day ratings and retrospective ratings of the same constructs over different recall periods (3, 7, 14, and 21 days). Results showed that, relative to young and middle-aged adults, older adults had a smaller memory-experience gap for negative affect and loneliness. Lower day-to-day variability partly explained why the gap was smaller for older adults. There was no evidence that the magnitude of the memory-experience gap for positive affect, pain or fatigue depended on age. We recommend that future research considers how variability in daily experiences can impact age differences in retrospective self-reports of well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).