Dispositional mindfulness and neuroticism are associated with age differences in emotional well-being in a U.S. adult lifespan sample

Despite experiencing more negative life events, older adults often report better emotional well-being than younger adults, a phenomenon known as the well-being paradox. Although socioemotional selectivity theory suggests that age-related shifts toward present-moment goals may contribute to this pattern, the psychological factors underlying these age differences remain unclear. In particular, mindfulness and personality are both associated with emotional well-being and vary by age, yet their contributions have not been examined simultaneously.

In this study, we examined whether dispositional mindfulness and the Big Five personality traits uniquely and statistically accounted for age differences in positive (subjective happiness, positive affect, satisfaction with life) and negative (negative affect, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms) emotional well-being. Using survey data from a lifespan sample of 129 adults (40 young, 42 middle-aged, 47 older adults), we conducted parallel mediation analyses. Older age was associated with greater positive emotional well-being and lower negative emotional well-being, which was partially mediated by lower levels of neuroticism.

Additionally, greater dispositional mindfulness mediated the inverse association between age and negative—but not positive—emotional well-being. These findings suggest that personality, specifically neuroticism, and dispositional mindfulness may be unique contributors to the well-being paradox. We would like to acknowledge the contributions to data cleaning and preparation of this research made by Emma Cleary.

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Aging of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R03AG078631 (PI: Shook, Co-I: Ramírez-Esparza). NIH provided 100% of total direct costs ($100,000). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT, USA Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA Elisabeth DeLuca School of Nursing, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA The authors declare the following competing interests: one of the co-authors, Dr. Shook, serves as a guest editor of Scientific Report’s guest-edited collection Meditation and Mental Health. All other authors declare no competing interests.

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