EXPERIENCED AND REMEMBERED EMOTIONAL INTENSITY IN OLDER ADULTS

After Ross Perot's abrupt withdrawal from the presidential race in Jul y of 1992, supporters (n = 227) rated their initial emotional reaction s and described their coping strategies. After the elections in Novemb er of 1992, supporters (ii = 147) recalled their initial emotional rea ctions. In contrast to claims that subjective; emotional intensity dec reases with age, older adults (71-84 years, M = 75) initially reported feeling just as sad, angry, and hopeful as middle-aged (46-70 years, M = 60) and younger adults (22-45 years, M = 37). Older adults were mo re likely than middle-aged and younger adults to disengage from thwart ed political goals, however. For those who maintained their original g oal, memory for the intensity of past feelings of sadness decreased wi th age. These findings suggest that age differences in response to sur vey questions about emotional intensity may reflect changes in memory for past emotions, and changes in coping strategies, rather than the i ntensity of the older adults' emotional experience as it occurred.