Attention, emotion, and well-being: An adult lifespan perspective

Abstract

The mind is selective in what it attends to in the environment. In this chapter, we describe potential implications of selective attention for emotional experience and well-being across the lifespan. We review theory and evidence examining the relationship between attention and well-being, first considering descriptive research that investigates reciprocal links between attention on the one hand, and affect and emotional well-being on the other. Using a lifespan developmental approach, we review research on attentional preferences and the use of atten- tional deployment in emotion regulation. Much of this work has used eye tracking to index attentional preferences and deployment. We then describe a number of training studies that suggest how attentional control can causally influence emotional well-being, and outline promising directions for future research, focusing on how age may moderate attention-emotion-well-being links.