Age differences in remembering mixed emotional experiences

In many cases, we experience different kinds of mixed emotions, but the concepts related to those experiences are still being studied. The present study examined the phenomenological differences between discrete emotional and mixed emotional experiences among different age groups. Forty-one adolescents between ages 18 and 22, thirty-seven adults in midlife between ages 40 and 44, and thirty-one people older than age 65 were participated in the study. Participants were briefly explained their mixed emotional (e.g. happiness& sadness, anger&compassion) and discrete emotional (e.g. happiness, anger, compassion and sadness) experiences and responded to Autobiographical Memory Characteristics Questionnaire for each. Results suggest that discrete emotional experiences are remembered better than mixed emotional experinces. Relatedly, inhibiting mixed emotion is easier than inhibiting single emotion. According to age, older adults inhibit their emotions easier than younger age groups. Middle adults inhibit bittersweat emotions better than adolescents and older people. The findings were discussed in relation to emotion and aging literature.