Abstract
The current study examined the interaction between situation selection and attentional deployment in young and older adults, and how the interaction between these two strategies differentially affected mood. We created a novel paradigm to examine situation selection, and gave participants free-choice to interact with material of varying emotional valence. Participants’ choice and time spent with each valence and mood were recorded. In another part of the study, participants were presented with, and chose videos and pictures varying in their emotional valence while their eyes were tracked and mood recorded. At the completion of both of these tasks, participants completed a variety of individual difference questionnaires. Results showed that older adults tended to avoid negative material, while young adults did not. There were no age differences in mood, nor in the use of attentional deployment when given the opportunity to choose material,\r iv\r yet the use of these emotion regulation strategies was differentially affected by control beliefs.