Dwight C. K. Tse

University of Strathclyde · School of Psychological Sciences and Health

Autotelic personality is a constellation of dispositional attributes that facilitate engagement and enjoyment in daily activities. However, there is no existing measurement directly capturing the attributes of autotelic personality that are identified in the literature. In the three studies reported here (total N = 900), we developed an Autotelic P...

The current developmental perspective on flow theory focuses mainly on the growth of skills. Such perspective, however, may overlook how individuals find flow in the face of developmental losses. This paper expands the current developmental perspective on flow theory by incorporating the contemporary view of lifespan human development. The first pa...

One way to achieve a high level of well-being is by engaging in and enjoying everyday activities. Research has unveiled seven personal attributes (autotelic personality, collectively) that facilitate such engagement and enjoyment. We hypothesized that flow experience—a state of deep engagement and enjoyment—accounts for the positive relationship be...

Objective/Background Flow, a psychological state of intense engagement in and enjoyment of an activity, can arise during both solitary and socially interactive experiences. In the literature, whereas people high in extraversion have difficulty achieving flow in solitude, those with an autotelic personality—a combination of traits that make people p...

Background and Objectives Thus far, successful aging has been conceptualized and operationalized as a relatively static construct. Investigating daily successful aging provides a dynamic approach highlighting how successful aging can be achieved through everyday actions, giving older adults a stronger sense of control over their lives. Research De...

Objectives: There is a risk of re-traumatisation for survivors of trauma who engage with the Justice system, given their high propensity to encounter situations that trigger traumatic responses. While a growing body of research has explored the experience of trauma informed practice (TIP) from service user perspectives, little research has incorpor...

The subjective experience of aging can vary day-to-day, and can depend upon a person’s activities and experiences. Activities conducive to flow experiences (energized experiences of intense focus and enjoyment) are associated with participants feeling younger on the same day, as well as increased levels of positive affect. Younger subjective age ha...

Daily variations in subjective views of aging and their coupling with psychological concomitants are increasingly explored, yet potential cultural differences in these relationships have not been addressed. We, therefore, compared the daily coupling of ageist attitudes with negative affect (NA) across countries included in the Subjective AGES (Agin...

Solitude (an objective state of being alone without social contact) evokes positive and negative experiences. People spend more time alone as they age. Little is known about factors influencing affective experiences in solitude. Trait mindfulness facilitates emotion regulation in various social contexts. The person-environment fit theory posits tha...

Recalling past affective experiences is key to guiding behaviour – including social and solitary activities – in ways that maximise wellbeing. However, affect recall is not always accurate. Previous research suggests that older (vs. younger) adults show a positivity effect in memory, depending on whether the stimuli are culturally meaningful. It is...

Background Affect recall is key to psychological assessment and decision‐making. However, self‐concepts (self‐beliefs) may bias retrospective affect reports such that they deviate from lived experiences. Does this experience‐memory gap apply to solitude experiences? We hypothesized that individuals misremember how they feel overall and when in soli...

Objectives The established link between subjective views of aging (VoA) and well-being shows variations across different cultures. Although VoA show daily fluctuations, little is known about cultural differences in such fluctuations and the daily coupling of VoA and well-being. We compared Israeli Arabs to Israeli Jews in the daily coupling of VoA...

Previous findings demonstrate that people often do not feel how they want to feel, supporting the distinction between "actual affect" and "ideal affect." But are there certain activities that reduce the discrepancy between actual and ideal affect? Based on flow theory and socioemotional selectivity theory, we examined whether the discrepancy betwee...

Background: Losing a loved one to suicide is an event which can have strong and potentially traumatic impacts on the lives of the bereaved survivors, especially regarding their grief which can be complicated. These bereaved individuals are also less likely to receive social support following their bereavement. However, besides these adverse impacts...

Given the conceptualization of subjective age being a construct that varies daily, one question naturally follows is whether doing particular activities may be associated with daily subjective age. Specifically, extrapolating from flow and vital engagement theory, we hypothesize that activities that are personally meaningful or flow-conducive (acti...

Performing acts of kindness can enhance benefactors’ well-being. However, few studies have examined its impact on older benefactors. This study aimed at evaluating this intervention among older adults and exploring “side benefits” beyond well-being. Specifically, given the negative stereotype on older adults as unproductive and incompetent, we hypo...

Background and Objectives Extremely hot temperature affects psychological well-being negatively, especially for older adults with lower socioeconomic status (SES). The objectives of this study are to examine: (a) the impact of hot instantaneous temperature on older adults’ emotional well-being and (b) whether meaningful engagement could reduce the...

How well can social scientists predict societal change, and what processes underlie their predictions? To answer these questions, we ran two forecasting tournaments testing the accuracy of predictions of societal change in domains commonly studied in the social sciences: ideological preferences, political polarization, life satisfaction, sentiment...

Previous studies have shown that there are cross-cultural differences in old-age preparation rate (e.g. Kornadt et al., 2019). Drawing from the transactional stress-and-coping model (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984), we proposed that perceived control, self-relevance and responsibility for old-age preparation could mediate the cultural differences in old-a...

Lack of social interaction is associated with a heightened sense of loneliness and, in turn, poorer psychological well-being. Despite the prevalence of communicating with others virtually even when physically alone, whether the social interaction–loneliness–well-being relationship is different between face-to-face and virtual interactions and betwe...

How well can social scientists predict societal change, and what processes underlie their predictions? To answer these questions, we ran two forecasting tournaments testing accuracy of predictions of societal change in domains commonly studied in the social sciences: ideological preferences, political polarization, life satisfaction, sentiment on s...

Flow experience is a psychological state characterized by simultaneous absorption, concentration, and enjoyment. Examining the change and continuity of the flow experience––an optimal state that contributes to well-being––is critical to the understanding of the lifelong trajectory of human flourishing. Nevertheless, to date there has been no system...

Operationalizing social group identification as political partisanship, we examine followers’ (i.e., US residents’) affective experiences and behavioral responses during the initial COVID‐19 outbreak in the United States (March to May 2020). In Study 1, we conducted content analyses on major news outlets’ coverage of COVID‐19 (N = 4319) to examine...

Loneliness is a risk factor for older adults, one exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although time spent alone is associated with both loneliness and greater well-being, the experience of solitude may depend on the type of activity pursued. We examined formal prosocial activity as one facilitator of positive solitary experiences. Older adults (...

According to socioemotional selectivity theory (SST), older adults prefer activities that provide immediate experiential rewards-specifically, emotionally meaningful experiences-but research is needed to establish the posited association. We conducted an experience sampling study of older adults intensively serving formal prosocial programs, which...

Thinking about old age stereotypically affects one’s engagement in age-related behaviors and developmental regulation. We hypothesized that positive or negative aging stereotype (AS) would be associated with more or less aging preparation, while action-related thoughts and beliefs might exert influence thereon. We used the AAF online-study dataset...

Solitude––the absence of social interaction––can bring both positive and negative experiences. Drawing on self-determination theory, we conducted three experience sampling studies to investigate quality of experience and dispositions associated with activities varying on two dimensions––chosenness (chosen/unchosen) and social context (solitary/inte...

The COVID‐19 pandemic is an unprecedented public health crisis that poses a challenge to humanity. Drawing on the stress and coping literature, we argue that people around the world alleviate their anxiety and stress induced by the pandemic through both prosocial and ‘self‐interested’ hoarding behaviours. This cross‐cultural survey study examined t...

Background and Objectives Older adults might be less information-seeking in comparison to younger adults. Yet, when a crisis hits, rather than relying on only a few information sources, it is important for people to gather information from a variety of different sources. With more information sources, people are more likely to obtain a more realist...

Objective Media consumption over time is suggested to be a significant contributor to how people develop their self-perceptions of aging (SPA); however, this association has only been investigated with cross-sectional methodologies. The current study used growth curve modeling to examine the influence of 10 years of television, newspaper, radio, an...

Aristotle believed that happiness and success result from cultivating virtue at the mean between deficiency and excess - the golden mean. Some evidence suggests there is a golden mean of hours spent volunteering, where well-being benefits are maximized. Our study examined potential linear and nonlinear functions in the amount of time spent in proso...

Studies on successful aging have conceptualized it as a between-person construct, meaning that people’s aging process is seen as more or less successful than others’ across contexts. This study examines within-person, moment-to-moment successful aging indicators, such as (absence of) physical pain, good physical and cognitive functioning, and activ...

This symposium reports findings from a national experience-sampling study of 165 older adults (mean age=71, range=60-88 years) who are heavily involved in prosocial activity, contributing to their communities as leaders or high-commitment volunteers in social-purpose organizations. Gerontological research has linked prosocial activity to a set of p...

Older adults were found to be less involved in non-institutional political actions than younger people did, and our previous work found that self-relevance mediated this age difference. In this study, we attempted to replicate the finding in a real-life social movement. We recruited 1037 participants (aged 18-84) during the anti-extradition bill mo...

The majority of self-perceptions of aging (SPA) research uses either a combination of the Age-related Cognition (AgeCog) scales of Ongoing Development and Physical Loss, or the Attitudes Towards Own Aging (ATOA) subscale to assess views on aging. Although these scales are used interchangeably, the valence (positive/negative) and the specificity of...

Objectives: The majority of self-perceptions of aging (SPA) research uses either a combination of the Aging-related Cognitions (AgeCog) scales of Ongoing Development and Physical Loss, or the Attitudes Towards Own Aging (ATOA) subscale to assess views on aging. Although these scales are used interchangeably, the valence (positive/negative) and the...

As one form of productive aging, many older adults undertake significant prosocial activity. Alongside its contribution to the welfare of others, prosocial activity has been linked to a variety of positive outcomes for those undertaking it (e.g., higher life satisfaction). However, little is known about the impact of this activity on older adults’...

Flow is an optimal psychological state characterized by the enjoyment of deep absorption in what one is doing. This psychological state is autotelic (i.e., rewarding in itself); experiencing flow intrinsically motivates individuals to engage in activities that are conducive to it. Research on the flow experience has shed light on the phenomenology...

One step toward the actualization of successful aging in society is to unveil the lives of older adults who are thriving and flourishing. Specifically, the knowledge of the daily lives of civic engagement exemplars may shed light on how to live well and make day-to-day contributions to society. This symposium intends to provide researchers and prac...

Social contribution is a source of meaning and purpose, viewed as closely related but distinct aspects of flourishing. In later life, one investment of accumulated experience and available time is a dedication to social contribution. We report on an experience sampling study of meaningfulness and purpose in the daily lives of 52 nominees for the Pu...

Rowe and Kahn’s (1997) model of successful aging encompasses the components of prevention of disease and disability, high levels of physical and mental functioning, and active continuous engagement. Using the experience sampling data from the civic engagement exemplars, this paper examines whether prosocial engagement is associated with higher scor...

Civic engagement contributes to successful aging by providing social interaction that helps older adults maintain active engagement within the community. However, many forms of civic engagement involve both interactive and solitary activities. This paper examines whether the effect of civic engagement on feelings of social connectedness is only obs...

Global aging poses increasing demand on the practice of death preparation. This study investigates cultural differences in death preparation. 240 participants from Hong Kong (aged 36–86), 159 from Germany (aged 19–83), and 97 from the United States (aged 26–84) completed two longitudinal surveys on death preparation, death acceptance, and religious...

Objectives: Volunteering is associated with improved physical and psychological well-being; volunteers feeling more respect for their work may have better well-being than their counterparts. Method: This study investigated the effects of felt respect for volunteer work on volunteering retention, daily affect, well-being (subjective, psychologica...

Flow theory postulates that flow experience is the most intense under high-challenge/high-skill conditions, whereas an excess of challenge is aversive. This study explores potential moderators that may offset the negative impact of overly high challenge on flow state. The literature suggests that a situational factor, teamwork, and a dispositional...

Flow theory postulates that people enjoy the optimal experience when challenge level of an activity matches their skill level. However, little research has extended the theory to examine the effect of challenge-skill balance on older adults’ emotional experiences. This recently completed study investigated whether older adults experienced more freq...