Correspondence between retrospective and momentary ratings of positive and negative affect in old age: findings from a one-year measurement burst design.

OBJECTIVES AND METHOD Using 5 measurement bursts spanning 1 year, this study examined correspondences between retrospective end-of-year ratings and momentary ratings of positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) in 53 older adult participants from the Berlin Aging Study. RESULTS Average momentary assessments were moderately positively correlated with retrospective ratings of PA and NA. Hierarchical regression analyses further indicate that mean momentary PA best predicted retrospective PA over and above peak or recent momentary PA, whereas no such pattern emerged for NA. No evidence for age differences in these patterns was found. DISCUSSION Our discussion focuses on the implications of affective memory biases for examining affective experiences as they occur in peoples' daily lives and points to implications concerning methods and theory development.