Abstract：
Older adults report greater affective well-being in solitude than younger adults, but prior findings are based on correlational designs. We aim to examine age differences in affective well-being in solitude using an experimental design and to examine conflict de-escalation as a potential mechanism. In Study 1, 207 participants were randomly assigned to either a solitude or a social interaction condition. In Study 2, 128 participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: solitude-escalation, solitude-de-escalation, interaction-escalation, and interaction de-escalation. After a 15-min solitude or social interaction period, they reported their affective experiences. In Study 1, older (vs. younger) adults reported more positive affect overall. This age-related difference was greater in the solitude (vs. social interaction) condition; older adults reported less negative affect than younger adults in the solitude, but not the social interaction, condition. In Study 2, older (vs. younger) participants reported more high-arousal positive affect in the solitude-escalation condition. This difference was not significant in conflict de-escalation conditions. Our studies provide causal evidence of the relationship between solitude and affective well-being and advance our understanding of motivations that explain why older adults maintain better affective well-being in solitude.
摘要：
老年人在孤独中的情感幸福感比年轻人高，但先前的发现是基于相关设计的。我们旨在使用实验设计来研究孤独中情感幸福感的年龄差异，并研究冲突升级作为潜在机制。在研究1中，207名参与者被随机分配到孤独或社交互动条件。在研究2中，128名参与者被随机分配到四个条件之一：孤独升级，孤独-降级，交互升级，和互动降级。经过15分钟的孤独或社会互动期，他们报告了他们的情感经历。在研究1中，年龄较大(vs.年轻)的成年人报告了更多的积极影响。这种与年龄相关的差异在孤独中更大(与社交互动)状况；老年人在孤独中报告的负面影响比年轻人小，但不是社交互动，condition.在研究2中，年龄较大(vs.年轻）的参与者报告了在孤独升级条件下更多的高唤醒积极影响。在冲突缓和条件下，这一差异并不显著。我们的研究提供了孤独与情感幸福感之间关系的因果证据，并促进了我们对动机的理解，这些动机解释了为什么老年人在孤独中保持更好的情感幸福感。
