Question 1

Which Stanford psychologist proposed socioemotional selectivity theory?

Accepted Answer

Laura Carstensen. Laura Carstensen developed socioemotional selectivity theory, which proposes that as time horizons shrink with age, people prioritize emotionally meaningful relationships.

Question 2

Karen Fingerman's research is particularly known for its focus on:

Accepted Answer

Intergenerational family ties across the adult lifespan. Karen Fingerman's research examines intergenerational relationships — between adult children and parents, and across generations — and how those ties evolve.

Question 3

Which researchers extended attachment theory to adult romantic relationships in the late 1980s?

Accepted Answer

Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver. Hazan and Shaver's 1987 paper extended attachment theory from infancy to adult romantic relationships, opening a major area of research.

Question 4

Socioemotional selectivity theory predicts that as adults age, they tend to:

Accepted Answer

Concentrate energy on a smaller number of emotionally meaningful relationships. Carstensen's research finds that as perceived time horizons shorten, adults tend to prune broader networks and invest more in close, meaningful ties.

Question 5

Research on attachment across the lifespan generally suggests that attachment styles are:

Accepted Answer

Relatively stable but capable of meaningful change through experience, reflection, and therapy. Longitudinal research suggests attachment styles show meaningful stability but also genuine change across the lifespan, shaped by relational experience, reflection, and clinical intervention.

Question 6

Karen Fingerman's research on adult children and their parents has found that:

Accepted Answer

Many adult children remain closely connected to parents, with patterns varying by family and culture. Fingerman's studies document that close contact between adult children and parents is common, with significant variation by family dynamics, geography, and culture.

Question 7

The 'positivity effect' described by Carstensen and colleagues refers to:

Accepted Answer

Older adults' relative tendency to attend to and remember positive information. The positivity effect describes older adults' tendency, relative to younger adults, to preferentially attend to and remember positive emotional information.

Question 8

Research on widowhood and bereavement in older adults finds that:

Accepted Answer

Outcomes vary widely, with social ties, meaning-making, and prior relationship quality among the strongest predictors of adjustment. Bereavement research, including work by George Bonanno, finds substantial individual variation in adjustment, with social support and meaning-making among the most important predictors.

Question 9

Intergenerational attachment research highlights that:

Accepted Answer

Attachment processes operate in both directions as parents age and children become caregivers. Attachment researchers describe bidirectional processes in later life, as caregiving roles shift and parents and adult children rebalance closeness, support, and dependence.

Question 10

Which is an evidence-informed practice for sustaining close relationships across midlife and later years?

Accepted Answer

Maintaining regular, low-pressure rituals of connection with close people, and seeking professional support when grief or transitions feel destabilizing. Researchers and clinicians emphasize small regular rituals with close people, plus access to professional support during major transitions, as protective practices across the lifespan.

Attachment and Aging: What Research Reveals

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