Thinking with Your Head and Your Heart: Age Differences in Everyday Problem-Solving Strategy Preferences

Age and gender differences in perceived effectiveness of problem-focused and emotion-regulatory problem-solving strategies were examined. Using the Q-sort methodology, young, middle-aged, and older participants were asked to rank order, on a continuum from least to most effective, a wide range of possible strategies for dealing with 4 hypothetical, interpersonal problem situations. In addition to global problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies, analyses were conducted on an expanded 10-category system, including 3 problem-focused and 7 emotion-focused categories. In general, participants preferred problem-focused over emotion-focused strategies. However, older adults preferred a combination of problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies, whereas middle-aged and younger age groups preferred problem-focused strategies only, as their top choices. Qualitative age and gender differences were also found in the types of strategies endorsed, particularly for the emotion-focused strategies.