ABSTRACT
People assume that they change as they get older. The most common age-related changes people expect in themselves and in others involve declines in cognitive and physical functioning. Perhaps fewer people think about changes in emotional functioning, although there are nonetheless stereotypes about how affective processes change through adulthood and into old age, from the idea of “grumpy old men” to the expectations of a midlife crisis. In both cases, the stereotype is that some emotion-relevant change happens in some or all individuals as they get older and that these changes are not accidentally associated with age but are related in important ways to the aging process.
