The field of emotions research has recently seen an unexpected period of growth and expansion, both in traditional
psychological literature and in gerontology. The Handbook of Emotion, Adult Development, and Aging provides a broad
overview and summary of where this field stands today, specifically with reference to life course issues and aging.
Written by a distinguished group of contributing authors, the text is grounded in a life span developmental framework,
while advancing a multidimensional view of emotion and its development and incorporating quantitative and qualitative
research findings. The book is divided into five parts. Part One discusses five major theoretical perspectives
including biological, discrete emotions, ethological, humanistic, and psychosocial. Part Two on affect and cognition
discusses the role of emotion in memory, problem solving, and internal perceptions of self and gender. Part Three
on emotion and relationships expands on the role of emotion in sibling and parent/child relationships, as well
as relationships between friends and romantic partners, and the emotional reaction to interpersonal loss across
the life span. Part Four on stress, health, and psychological well-being treats issues of stress and coping, religion,
personality, and quality of life. The final part on continuity and change in emotion patterns and personality discusses
emotion and emotionality throughout the life span. An ideal reference source for professionals across a wide range
of disciplines, the text summarizes recent important developments in this fast growing area of psychology and proposes
many new directions for future research.
Key Feature
Provides a biopsychological view on emotion in adulthood from a life span context
Presents the new perspective on emotion in older adults actively engaged in emotion self-regulation
Describes the intimate connection between emotion and the structure of personality
Demonstrates a new perspective on what emotion is, its importance across the life span, its connections with
cognition, its role in interpersonal relation, and the way it influences both stability and change in adulthood
Illustrates the interpersonal nature of emotion
Provides theoretically based, leading edge research from international authors
Five areas of coverage include:
Theoretical perspectives
Affect and cognition
Emotion and relationships
Stress, health, and psychological well-being
Continuity and change in emotion patterns and personality