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Allows the participants to group a randomly provided set of cards to investigate same and different groups, then afterwards asked questions about their preference in both groups, looking for positivity bias.

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Socioemotional selectivity theory maintains that perceived limitations on time lead to motivational shifts that direct attention to emotionally meaningful goals. It suggests that with age, comes a greater complexity of emotional experience; that attention to current feeling states heightens when future concerns become less relevant. The theory does also highlight the importance in that not all people achieve the relatively positive outcomes predicted by the theory.

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Socioemotional Selectivity is a phenomenon that has been observed wherein older generations show increased motivation, positivity bias and general emotional well being (Sullivan-Singh, Stanton & Low, 2015); this has been suggested to be due to age imposing a time limit that motivates individuals.
It has been shown that thinking of such time limits enhances positivity of recall in both younger and older adults, though older adults recall is generally more positive (Barber et al., 2016).

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The relationships among age, optimism bias, religiosity, creationist beliefs, and reliance on intuition were examined in a sample of 211 high school students (M age = 16.54 years). Optimism bias was defined as the difference between predictions for positive and negative live events (e.g., divorce) for the self and age peers. Results indicated that older adolescents displayed less optimism bias, were less religious, believed less in creationism, and relied on intuition less than younger adolescents. Furthermore, the association between age and optimism bias was mediated by religiosity and reliance on intuition but not by creationist beliefs. These findings are considered from a dual-process theoretic perspective that emphasizes age increases in metacognitive abilities and epistemological beliefs and age declines in impulsive judgments. Research directed toward examining alternative explanations of the association among religiosity, age, and optimism bias is recommended.

Klaczynski, P. A. (2017). Age differences in optimism bias are mediated by reliance on intuition and religiosity. Journal of experimental child psychology, 163, 126-139.

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Differences in social partner 'goals' for young and older adults

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Differences in social partner 'goals' for young and older adults

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As an example of socioemotional selectivity theory, age differences in goals are seen when participants are asked whom they would like to spend time with. Younger adults are more likely to chose social partners that offer new information, such as a book author, whereas older adults are more likely to chose social partners likely to satisfy emotional goals, such as close friends or family members (Fung et al., 1999; Fredrickson & Carnstensen, 1990).

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With increasing age, perceived limitations on time lead to reorganisations of goal hierarchies, meaning that goals related to obtaining emotional meaning from life are prioritised over goals that maximise long-term outcomes in an uncertain future. According to SST it is time perspective, not chronological age, that drives these changes in adulthood.

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Socioemotional Selectivity Theory suggests emotion regulation goals motivate adults to preferentially allocate attention to positive stimuli over negative stimuli.
How it's measured
A dot probe task was used to compare subliminal and conscious attention for threat.

Found that older but not younger adults demonstrated avoidance responses to angry faces regardless of anxiety.
Anxious older adults demonstrated vigilant-aviodant reactions to sad faces but an aviodant-vigilant reaction to negative words.
Lee, L. O., & Knight, B. G. (2009). Attentional bias for threat in older adults: moderation of the positivity bias by trait anxiety and stimulus modality. Psychology and aging, 24(3), 741.

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Human language reveals a universal positivity bias (Dodds 2015).

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Human language reveals a universal positivity bias (Dodds 2015).

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100,00 words from across 10 worldwide languages used, the study found that words of natural human language possess a universal positivity bias, the estimated emotional content of words is consistent between languages under translation, and this positivity bias is strongly independent of frequency of word use.

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Card sorting similarity task, mood inductions, observations, emotional state response sheet

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Cueing tasks have demonstrated older adults as being more distracted than younger adults by task-irrelevant positive faces (but not by sad or fearful faces) and showed greater activity in anterior cingulate (Brassen et al., 2011). 

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Cueing tasks have demonstrated older adults as being more distracted than younger adults by task-irrelevant positive faces (but not by sad or fearful faces) and showed greater activity in anterior cingulate (Brassen et al., 2011). 

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What is socioemotional selectivity theory?

Reduced rates of interaction later in life as a result of a lifelong selection process. This is done by strategically cultivating their social networks to maximise social and emotional gains and minimise social and emotional risks.

Method of Measuring

Visual Dot-Probe Task

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When perceived limitations on time lead to motivational shifts that direct attention to emotionally meaningful goals. Increased attention to emotional goals results in greater complexity of emotional experience & better emotion regulation. When concerns for the future are less relevant attention to current feeling states increases