Does interpersonal emotion regulation ability change with age?

Societal and political changes mean that individuals are working until later in life, leading to interest in whether older workers' effectiveness differs from that of younger workers. An important predictor of work effectiveness is ‘interpersonal emotion regulation’, that is, the management of others' feelings. However, little is known so far about whether there are age-related changes in interpersonal emotion regulation ability. In this article, I apply theoretical evidence about aging to a model of the composite tasks involved in interpersonal emotion regulation, in order to form predictions about age-related differences in the management of others' feelings. I further review the existing empirical evidence base, to highlight areas where predictions are supported and areas where further research is needed. It is hoped that this article will guide future empirical work in this important area, in order to broaden the evidence base on age and emotion regulation. • Organizations will increasingly rely on older adults to remain in the workforce. • Managing others' feelings is critical for effective work performance. • Older workers are at least as good as younger workers at managing others' feelings. • Older workers may be better regulators of others' feelings in most situations. • Exceptions may include situations of high cognitive load and low personal salience.