Reading focus
Syllabus: How Do We Develop Across the Lifespan?
Use socioemotional selectivity theory to formulate a developmental prediction that does not simply say older people differ from younger people. Compare its emphasis on goals with the contextual account of adolescence.
A question to consider. How could a study distinguish the influence of perceived time remaining from that of chronological age?
Why this reading
People’s priorities may depend on how much time they believe lies ahead. Socioemotional selectivity theory connects perceived time with goals for acquiring knowledge and finding emotional meaning. It offers an explanation of age-related patterns that can also be examined outside a comparison of young and old people.
Before you read
A time horizon is a person’s sense of the future available to them. Chronological age can correlate with that horizon without being interchangeable with it. A motivational preference, a social network, and emotional well-being are different outcomes; evidence about one does not automatically explain the others.
Read for
- State a prediction about perceived time that could apply to people of the same age.
- Compare evidence from age groups, life circumstances, and experimentally framed endings or extended futures. What does each design contribute?
- Ask how the theory distinguishes selective investment in relationships from involuntary isolation or loss of opportunity.
Consider afterwards
- A younger adult anticipates leaving a community, while an older adult expects many new opportunities there. What would the theory predict about their social preferences, and what other influences would you measure?
Editorial context
This article develops a theory and reviews a research program. Age is often used as a proxy for time perspective, making evidence that separates them especially informative. The argument does not imply that all older people share a goal, that smaller networks always reflect choice, or that limited time guarantees well-being.