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In a 10-year study, adults reported more positive, stable emotions as they aged, but the improvement plateaued near 64 and did not mean poorer health caused better wellbeing
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Older adults, on average, report fewer negative emotions, more stable moods, and a better balance of positive to negative experience than younger adults.
Older adults were more stable and resisted desires more oftenEmotional wellbeing and emotional regulation are related, but they are not identical.
The 2020 study in the journal Emotion found that older adults experienced more positive affect, less negative affect and greater emotional stability.
It should not be stretched into the claim that older adults are better at every emotional task.
A 2026 daily-life study of 161 people aged 14 to 78 linked older age with more consistent strategy use, while several measures of flexibility were not significantly predicted by age.