Handbook of Emotion, Adult Development, and Aging

Book excerpt: 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. - 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 Coverage includes: - Five major theoretical perspectives, including biological, discrete emotions, ethological, humanistic, and psychosocial - The role of emotion in memory, problem-solving, and internal perceptions of self and gender - The role of emotion in sibling and parent/child relationships, relationships between friends and romantic partners, and the emotional reaction to interpersonal loss across the lifespan - Issues of stress and coping, religion, personality, and quality of life - Emotion and emotionality throughout the lifespan