Age differences in the likelihood of destructive anger responses under different relationship contexts: a comparison of mainland and Hong Kong Chinese

This brief report examined how the likelihood of destructive anger responses varied with age across relationship contexts. Seventy-six older adults and 100 younger adults from Hong Kong and Mainland China reported their responses to anger-eliciting scenarios elicited by a kin, a close or a casual friend. Results indicated that compared with their younger counterparts, older Hong Kong Chinese were less likely to report direct aggression toward kin, but older Mainland Chinese were more likely to do so. Older Hong Kong Chinese were less likely to report malevolent and fractious motives than were younger Chinese across all relationships; Older Mainland Chinese were less likely to do so only in friendship. Findings have implications for conceptualizing age-related emotion regulation across relationships and cultures.