The field of emotions research has recently seen an unexpected period of growth and expansion, both in traditional psychological literature and in gerontology. The Handbook of Emotion, Adult Development, and Aging provides a broad overview and summary of where this field stands today, specifically with reference to life course issues and aging. Written by a distinguished group of contributing authors, the text is grounded in a life span developmental framework, while advancing a multidimensional view of emotion and its development and incorporating quantitative and qualitative research findings. The book is divided into five parts. Part One discusses five major theoretical perspectives including biological, discrete emotions, ethological, humanistic, and psychosocial. Part Two on affect and cognition discusses the role of emotion in memory, problem solving, and internal perceptions of self and gender. Part Three on emotion and relationships expands on the role of emotion in sibling and parent/child relationships, as well as relationships between friends and romantic partners, and the emotional reaction to interpersonal loss across the life span. Part Four on stress, health, and psychological well-being treats issues of stress and coping, religion, personality, and quality of life. The final part on continuity and change in emotion patterns and personality discusses emotion and emotionality throughout the life span. An ideal reference source for professionals across a wide range of disciplines, the text summarizes recent important developments in this fast growing area of psychology and proposes many new directions for future research. Provides a biopsychological view on emotion in adulthood from a life span context Presents the new perspective on emotion in older adults actively engaged in emotion self-regulation Describes the intimate connection between emotion and the structure of personality Demonstrates a new perspective on what emotion is, its importance across the life span, its connections with cognition, its role in interpersonal relation, and the way it influences both stability and change in adulthood Illustrates the interpersonal nature of emotion Provides theoretically based, leading edge research from international authors Five areas of coverage include: Theoretical perspectives Affect and cognition Emotion and relationships Stress, health, and psychological well-being Continuity and change in emotion patterns and personality Coverage includes: Five major theoretical perspectives, including biological, discrete emotions, ethological, humanistic, and psychosocial The role of emotion in memory, problem-solving, and internal perceptions of self and gender The role of emotion in sibling and parent/child relationships, relationships between friends and romantic partners, and the emotional reaction to interpersonal loss across the lifespan Issues of stress and coping, religion, personality, and quality of life Emotion and emotionality throughout the lifespan

This volume is an outgrowth ofcontemporary research on development over the adult lifespan, which by now has burgeoned and developed both nationally and internationally. However, for us, the impetus to be involved in this area was spawned and nurtured by our initial association with the Society for Research in Adult Development (SRAD) with its origins some 15 years ago by Michael Commonsand his associates inCambridge, Massachusetts. Throughthegood will and support of this society, we also became, and are still, heavily involved with the Journal of Adult Development and the Kluwer-Plenum Monograph Series on Adult Development and Aging, ofwhich this volume is a companion. Many ofthe contributions in the volume are from SRAD members, who con sistently adhere to a focus on positive adult development. Their chapters have been complemented by pieces from other researchers, who have adopted more mainstream approaches to adult development and/oraging. Regardless ofthe par ticular approach and/or focus of the chapter, all the work reported herein sup ports the relatively recent idea that development is not restricted to children and adolescents but continues throughout the adult lifespan in ways that we never envisionedsome 20 years ago. Thus, the volume represents state-of-the-arttheory, research, and practice on adult development, which has the potential to occupy us all for some time to come.

Over the last decade, the field of socio-emotional development and aging has rapidly expanded, with many new theories and empirical findings emerging. This trend is consistent with the broader movement in psychology to consider social, motivational, and emotional influences on cognition and behavior. The Oxford Handbook of Emotion, Social Cognition, and Problem Solving in Adulthood provides the first overview of a new field of adult development that has emerged out of conceptualizations and research at the intersections between socioemotional development, social cognition, emotion, coping, and everyday problem solving. This field roundly rejects a universal deficit model of aging, highlighting instead the dynamic nature of socio-emotional development and the differentiation of individual trajectories of development as a function of variation in contextual and experiential influences. It emphasizes the need for a cross-level examination (from biology and neuroscience to cognitive and social psychology) of the determinants of emotional and socio-emotional behavior. This volume also serves as a tribute to the late Fredda Blanchard-Fields, whose thinking and empirical research contributed extensively to a life-span developmental view of emotion, problem solving, and social cognition. Its chapters cover multiple aspects of adulthood and aging, presenting developmental perspectives on emotion; antecedents and consequences of emotion in context; everyday problem solving; social cognition; goals and goal-related behaviors; and wisdom. The landmark volume in this new field, The Oxford Handbook of Emotion, Social Cognition, and Problem Solving in Adulthood is an important resource for cognitive, developmental, and social psychologists, as well as researchers and graduate students in the field of aging, emotion studies, and social psychology.

Decades of research have demonstrated that normal aging is accompanied by cognitive change. Much of this change has been conceptualized as a decline in function. However, age-related changes are not universal, and decrements in older adult performance may be moderated by experience, genetics, and environmental factors. Cognitive aging research to date has also largely emphasized biological changes in the brain, with less evaluation of the range of external contributors to behavioral manifestations of age-related decrements in performance. This handbook provides a comprehensive overview of cutting-edge cognitive aging research through the lens of a life course perspective that takes into account both behavioral and neural changes. Focusing on the fundamental principles that characterize a life course approach - genetics, early life experiences, motivation, emotion, social contexts, and lifestyle interventions - this handbook is an essential resource for researchers in cognition, aging, and gerontology.

Offering a fresh, authoritative take on a topic of increasing relevance, this book is comprehensive in scope, yet concise and accessible. Key contributors from health psychology, gerontology, and related fields pool their knowledge.

The Intersection of Adult Development and Learning is the first handbook to explore the ways in which adult roles, functions, interests, motivations, and contexts lead to synchronous development and learning. The chapters in this volume, written by leaders in their respective areas, elaborate on topics that show the interplay between adult development and learning. As the chapter contributors ably demonstrate, it is now abundantly clear that adult learning and development reinforce each other.

Adult development and learning have always existed as two separate fields of study, with development falling under psychology and learning under education. Recent advances in theory, research, and practice, however, have made it clear that an important reciprocal relationship exists between them: advances in development frequently lead to learning, and conversely, learning quite often fuels development. The synchronicity between development and learning is responsible for positive changes in many capacities, including insight, intelligence, reflective and meta-cognition, personality expression, interpersonal competence, and self-efficacy. This synchronicity is also leading to the growth of a new discipline at the borders of adult development and learning. The Handbook of Adult Development and Learning is the first to bring together the leading scholars from both adult development and learning to explore what will form the foundation for this new discipline--the latest research at the intersection of these fields. It examines six major aspects of their intersection: foundations, key areas of integration, the self system, higher reaches of development and learning, essential contexts, and specific applications. An introductory chapter explains why it is so important to recognize and fuel the growth of this new discipline. Subsequent chapters review the latest theoretical and empirical literature and provide a rich itinerary for future research.This handbook is a must-read for all who promote optimal aging. It will be an invaluable reference for scholars in development and education, as well as rich resource for policy makers and practitioners, such as corporate executives and human-resource personnel.