UC Berkeley

Using a cross-sectional sample of young (20-30 years old), middle-aged (40-50 years old), and older adults (60-80 years old), the present study examined age differences in cognitive empathy (i.e., the capacity to know what another is feeling or thinking). Cognitive empathy was measured in terms of: (a) facial emotion recognition using static stimuli; (b) the Eyes test using age-matched and non-age-matched static stimuli; and (c) emotional tracking using age-matched and non-age-matched dynamic interpersonal stimuli. While past studies on cognitive empathy and aging have focused almost exclusively on the former two measures and have found evidence of age-related decline for both, other research suggests that older adults may be able to compensate for such losses with information from other sources, even surpassing the performance of young adults under conditions that mimic real-world social contexts. Consistent with this idea, results revealed an age by task interaction such that older adults performed worse than young adults on facial emotion recognition and aspects of the Eyes test (with middle-aged adults performing in between), but better on emotional tracking of social interactions (with middle-aged adults performing in between). Additionally, I found no evidence for an age-matched advantage on the Eyes test or in emotional tracking. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the nature of cognitive empathy and neuropsychological and motivational models of the aging mind.