@article{erica l. o'brien_hess_2020, title={Differential focus on probability and losses between young and older adults in risky decision-making}, volume={27}, ISSN={["1744-4128"]}, DOI={10.1080/13825585.2019.1642442}, abstractNote={ABSTRACT We examined young and older adults’ use of descriptive information about risk (i.e., probability and expected value) in financial decision-making. In Experiment 1, participants chose between lotteries in pairs of bets that offered either two risky gains or one risky gain and one sure gain. Whereas they showed a strong and indiscriminate preference for high-probability gambles in risky-risky pairs, they selected sure options at high rates and risky options at low rates in risky-sure pairs, with slightly stronger effects in older relative to young adults due to age differences in ability. Experiment 2 involved the same task but in terms of losses. Participants, especially older adults, preferred low-probability gambles not accounted for by age differences in ability. Results suggest minimal consideration of expected value and a strong focus on probabilities in decision-making. They also suggest that cognitive ability and chronic goals differentially influence age effects depending on risk context.}, number={4}, journal={AGING NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION}, author={Erica L. O'Brien and Hess, Thomas M.}, year={2020}, month={Jul}, pages={532–552} }
 @article{sharifian_erica l. o'brien_2019, title={Resource or Hindrance? The benefits and costs of social support for functional difficulties and its implications for depressive symptoms}, volume={23}, ISSN={["1364-6915"]}, DOI={10.1080/13607863.2018.1437595}, abstractNote={ABSTRACT Objectives:The impact of social support on the relationship between stress and well-being remains somewhat inconclusive, with work suggesting either null, buffering, or amplification effects. The current study investigated the conditions in which perceived social support is likely to act as a buffer or amplifier by considering individual differences in self-perceptions of aging. Methods: Using data from two subsamples of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (graduates: 70–74 years, siblings: 40–92 years), we examined how perceived social support (emotional versus instrumental) and self-perceptions of aging (SPA) moderated the effect of functional limitations on depressive symptoms (DS). Results: Although emotional support positively predicted DS, its effects did not depend on SPA. Instrumental support was associated with both increases and decreases in well-being that were dependent upon SPA. Functional limitations predicted more DS at both low and high levels of instrumental support when SPA were negative. However, when SPA were positive, low levels of social support were found to decrease depressive symptoms, and high levels were found to increase depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The impact of social social may enhance or deteriorate well-being, depending on how it interacts with self-evaluative beliefs. Findings offer insights as to the boundary conditions associated with the (positive) effects of social support and SPA, and highlight the need for continued research on the mechanisms associated these effects.}, number={5}, journal={AGING & MENTAL HEALTH}, author={Sharifian, Neika and Erica L. O'Brien}, year={2019}, month={May}, pages={618–624} }
 @article{hess_growney_o'brien_neupert_sherwood_2018, title={The role of cognitive costs, attitudes about aging, and intrinsic motivation in predicting engagement in everyday activities.}, volume={33}, ISSN={1939-1498 0882-7974}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pag0000289}, DOI={10.1037/pag0000289}, abstractNote={Engagement in cognitively demanding everyday activities has been shown to benefit cognitive health in later life. We investigated the factors that influence engagement, with specific interest in determining the extent to which the costs of engaging cognitive resources are associated with intrinsic motivation and, ultimately, participation in everyday activities. Older adults (N = 153) aged from 65 to 81 years completed a challenging cognitive task, with the costs of cognitive engagement—operationalized as the effort required to maintain performance—assessed using systolic blood pressure responses (SBP-R). We also assessed participation in everyday activities using both 2-year retrospective reports and five daily reports over a 5-week period. Structural models revealed that lower levels of costs were associated with more positive attitudes about aging, which in turn were associated with higher levels of intrinsic motivation. Motivation was subsequently predictive of everyday activity engagement, with the effect being specific to those activities thought to place demands on cognitive resources. The measure of engagement had minimal impact on the nature of the observed effects, suggesting that the retrospective and weekly assessments were tapping into similar constructs. Taken together, the results are consistent with expectations derived from Selective Engagement Theory (Hess, 2014), which argues that engagement in demanding activities is related to the cost associated with such engagement, which in turn leads to selective participation through changes in motivation.}, number={6}, journal={Psychology and Aging}, publisher={American Psychological Association (APA)}, author={Hess, Thomas M. and Growney, Claire M. and O'Brien, Erica L. and Neupert, Shevaun D. and Sherwood, Andrew}, year={2018}, month={Sep}, pages={953–964} }
 @article{hess_erica l. o'brien_voss_kornadt_rothermund_fung_popham_2017, title={Context Influences on the Relationship Between Views of Aging and Subjective Age: The Moderating Role of Culture and Domain of Functioning}, volume={32}, ISSN={["1939-1498"]}, DOI={10.1037/pag0000181}, abstractNote={Subjective age has been shown to reliably predict a variety of psychological and physical health outcomes, yet our understanding of its determinants is still quite limited. Using data from the Aging as Future project, the authors examined the degree to which views of aging influence subjective age and how this influence varies across cultures and domains of everyday functioning. Using data from 1,877 adults aged from 30 to 95 years of age collected in China, Germany, and the United States, they assessed how general attitudes about aging and perceptions of oneself as an older adult influenced subjective age estimates in 8 different domains of functioning. More positive attitudes about aging were associated with older subjective ages, whereas more positive views of self in old age were associated with younger subjective age. It is hypothesized that these effects are reflective of social-comparison processes and self-protective mechanisms. These influences varied considerably over contexts, with views of aging having a greater impact in domains associated with stronger negative stereotypes of aging (e.g., health) compared to those with more positive ones (e.g., family). Culture also moderated the impact of aging views in terms of the strength of prediction, direction of effect, and age of greatest influence, presumably due to cultural differences in the salience and strength of aging-related belief systems across contexts. The results illustrate the contextual sensitivity of subjective age and highlight the role played by an individual’s views of old age—both in general and regarding oneself—in determining their own experience of aging.}, number={5}, journal={PSYCHOLOGY AND AGING}, author={Hess, Thomas M. and Erica L. O'Brien and Voss, Peggy and Kornadt, Anna E. and Rothermund, Klaus and Fung, Helene H. and Popham, Lauren E.}, year={2017}, month={Aug}, pages={419–431} }