Growing Less Empathic With Age: Disinhibition of the Self-Perspective

Older adults have a reduced capacity to take the perspective of another, and it has been suggested that disinhibition may be one mechanism contributing to this difficulty. To test this possibility, we had behavioral measures that were sensitive to inhibitory failure and to theory of mind (ToM) admin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2008-07, Vol.63 (4), p.P219-P226
Main Authors: Bailey, Phoebe E., Henry, Julie D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Adult. Elderly
Age
Age differences
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging
Aging - psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Cognitive functioning
Culture
Decision Making
Developmental psychology
Disinhibition
Elderly people
Empathy
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Inhibition (Psychology)
Interpersonal Relations
Male
Middle Aged
Mortality
Neuropsychological Tests
Older people
Personal Construct Theory
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Social interaction
Studies
Theory of mind
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Summary:Older adults have a reduced capacity to take the perspective of another, and it has been suggested that disinhibition may be one mechanism contributing to this difficulty. To test this possibility, we had behavioral measures that were sensitive to inhibitory failure and to theory of mind (ToM) administered to younger and older adults. One of the measures of ToM directly manipulated inhibitory demands, involving either high or low levels of self-perspective inhibition. The results indicated that older adults were selectively impaired on the high-inhibition condition. Further, of the various aspects of cognitive functioning that we assessed, including memory, mental flexibility, and cognitive speed, only cognitive disinhibition mediated age-related differences in ToM. These results suggest that inhibitory control is an important mediator of ToM in late adulthood.
ISSN:1079-5014
1758-5368
DOI:10.1093/geronb/63.4.P219