Positive and negative affect differentially predict individual differences and intra-individual changes in daily cognitive failures in younger and older adults

• Main Authors: GUEVARRA, Ysabel A., MAJEED, Nadyanna M., NUR EVA ALISHA BINTE MOHAMED HISHAM, HARTANTO, Andree
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2024
• Subjects: positive affect; negative affect; cognitive failures; daily diary; multilevel modelling; Cognition and Perception; Gerontology; Social Psychology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/4087; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/5346/viewcontent/brainsci_14_01259_v3.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

(1) Background: Cognitive failures, including lapses in attention, memory, and executive functioning, can negatively affect daily performance and well-being. Negative and positive affectivity have been implicated in cognitive functioning, yet their relationship with cognitive failures remains underexplored. This study investigates the impact of positive and negative affect on cognitive failures, using daily diary methods to examine both within-person and between-person associations in a sample of younger adults from Singapore and adults across the lifespan from the United States (US). (2) Methods: Participants (Singapore: N = 253, US: N = 1726) completed daily diaries over seven (Singapore) or eight (US) consecutive days. Multilevel modelling was used to analyse both within- and between-person relationships between affect and cognitive failures, controlling for demographic and socioeconomic variables. (3) Results: In both the Singapore and US samples, negative affect was consistently positively associated with cognitive failures at both levels (SG within-person: β = 0.21, p