Emotion Processing in Late Adulthood: The Effect of Emotional Valence and Face Age on Behavior and Scanning Patterns

Age-related differences in emotion recognition are well-documented in older adults aged 65 and above, with stimulus valence and the age of the model being key influencing factors. This study examined these variables across three experiments using a novel set of images depicting younger and older models expressing positive and negative emotions (e.g., happy vs. sad; interested vs. bored). Experiment 1 focused on valence-arousal dimensions, Experiment 2 on emotion recognition accuracy, and Experiment 3 on visual fixation patterns. Age-related differences were found in emotion recognition. No significant age-related differences in gaze behavior were found; both age groups looked more at the eye region. The positivity effect-older adults' tendency to prioritize positive over negative information-did not consistently manifest in recognition performance or scanning patterns. However, older adults evaluated positive emotions differently than negative emotions, rating negative facial expressions as less negative and positive emotions as more arousing compared to younger adults. Finally, emotions portrayed by younger models were rated as more intense and more positive than those portrayed by older adults by both older and younger adults. We conclude that the positivity effect and own-age bias may be more complex and nuanced than previously thought.