Situation selection

Abstract

In this article, results of a qualitative study in relation to Situation Selection as an emotional regulation strategy in different age groups are shown. The emotional regulation is a process whereby people seek to redirect the course of their emotions. The selection or avoidance of situations is one of these strategies. Faced with an emotionally intense situation, either negative or positive, and from a subjective assessment, subjects anticipate the likely emotional consequences. This can trigger selection or avoidance strategies. The efficacy of this process is based on a balance between search for wellbeing and avoidance of discomfort, in a way that predominantly the result is emotionally positive. Different studies suggest that older people tend, more than younger people, to de seek of maintenance and a predominance of a positive emotionality. The results obtained in this study show common aspects as regard to selection strategy. However, some differences appear. In youth, others attitudes is a source of negative emotions. In middle-age, family problems and political opinions are source of rage. In older people, everything that refers to the negative aspects of ageing, such as sickness and passivity, is avoided. The avoidance in older people doesn’t imply a scape, but rather neutralization or balance between their social compromise and their emotional equilibrium.