Does Social Interaction Improve Emotional Experience Across Different Relationships? A Study Using Experience Sampling in Older Chinese Adults

Social interaction is an important way that we as humans connect with others. Socioemotional selectivity theory emphasizes the importance of close relationships, and Chinese culture attaches great importance to family members. As such, this study aimed to examine the differences in the quality of interactions that older Chinese adults have with close partners (e.g., children, friends, and relatives) as well as with other partners (e.g., neighbors, colleagues, and strangers) and to examine the association between interaction quality and emotional experience across these interactions. We collected data from 213 older adults over the course of 14 days. Results indicate that (1) compared to other partners, interactions with close partners are considered to be of higher quality; (2) in interactions with children and relatives, interaction quality is positively associated with positive affect (PA) and negatively associated with negative affect (NA); in interactions with friends and neighbors, interaction quality is only associated with PA; in interactions with colleagues and strangers, interaction quality is not associated with either PA or NA. Overall, interactions with close partners were shown to be considered to be of higher quality, and that the quality of interactions with family members was closely associated with emotional experience.