Exploring Emotional Well‐Being in Exceptional Aging: Data from the SuperAging Research Initiative

These findings further characterize the emotional well-being of cognitively healthy adults age 80+. Consistent with prior SuperAging reports, positive emotional well-being was observed. Whereas prior research indicates older men tend to report higher social isolation and less social support compared to women, males in our study reported a higher perception of available resources from their social networks than females. Other studies have shown similarly contradictory findings, with men reporting more social ties but women reporting greater group involvement and emotional support. Within-race comparisons require cautious interpretation given limited sample size; however, the reported lower affective fear in Black SuperAgers compared to Black Controls may reflect the impact of social determinants of health, life stressors, or allostatic load on cognitive aging.