Selected Publications

I am interested in studying how goals change across adulthood, and the effects of those changes on communication and decision making. I have two related lines of research. One employs field/descriptive studies to examine age-related goal changes in different sociocultural contexts. The other uses experimental methods to study the psychological processes that underlie age-related goal changes and their cross-cultural manifestations. 

     Fung, H. H., Lai, P., Ng, R. (2001). Age differences in social preferences among Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese: The role of perceived Time. Psychology and Aging, 16,351-356. [abstract]

     Fung, H. H., Carstensen, L. L. & Lang, F. R. (2001). Age-related patterns of social relationships among African-Americans and Caucasian-Americans: Implications for socioemotional selectivity across the life span. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 52, 185-206 [abstract]

    Fung, H. H., Carstensen, L. L., & Lutz, M. A. (1999). Influence of time on social preferences: Implications for life-span development. Psychology and Aging, 14, 595-604. This paper is the winner of the Margaret Clark Award, the Association of Anthropology and Gerontology, 1998. It is cited in Robert Baron's introductory psychology textbook, Psychology: The essential science (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.[abstract]

    Chiu, HFK., Lam, LCW., Chi, I., Leung, T., Li, SW, Law, WT, Chung, DWS, Fung, HHL., Kan, PS, Lum, CM, Ng, J., & Lau, J. (1998). Prevalence of dementia in Chinese elderly in Hong Kong. Neurology, 50(4), 1002-1009. 

Chapters:

     Kennedy, Q., Fung, H. H., & Carstensen, L. L. (2001). Aging, time estimation and emotion. In S. H.  McFadden, & R.C. Atchley (Eds). Aging and the meaning of time. (pp. 51-74). New York: Springer.

     Fung, H. H., Abeles, R., & Carstensen, L. L. &  (1999). Sense of control in old age. In J. R. Brandtstädter, & R. M. Lerner (Eds). Action and development: Origins and functions of intentional self development. (pp. 345-372). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications. 

     Carstensen, L. L., Gross, J. J., & Fung, H. H. (1997). The social context of emotional experience. In K.W. Schaie, & M. P. Lawton (Eds.). Annual review of gerontology and geriatrics. (Vol 17, pp. 325-354). New York: Springer.

Manuscripts under review or in preparation:

      Fung, H. H., & Carstensen, L. L. (1999). Age differences in advertisement preferences: The role of perceived time. Manuscript in preparation.

      Fung, H. H., & Carstensen, L. L. (1999). Life-cycle changes in social goals: An experimental approach. Manuscript under review.  This paper is the winner of Behavioral and Social Science Student Research Award, the Gerontological Society of America, 1999. 

Abstacts

Age Differences in Social Preferences among Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese: The Role of Perceived Time
Helene H. Fung, Phillina Lai, & Rita Ng

Socioemotional selectivity theory holds that as people recognize the inevitable constraint of time imposed by mortality, their social goals change, motivating them to limit social contacts to those with whom they are emotionally close. This theory was tested among Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese. As predicted, older adults in both cultures were more likely to prefer familiar social partners – who are most likely to provide emotionally close social interactions -- than were younger adults. Mainland Chinese, who as a group have shorter actuarial life expectancy, were more likely to prefer familiar social partners than were Taiwanese. These age and cultural differences were eliminated when differences in perceived time were statistically controlled for.
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Age-related Patterns in Social Networks among European Americans and African Americans: Implications for Socioemotional Selectivity across the Life Span
Helene H. Fung, Laura L. Carstensen & Frieder R. Lang

Socioemotional selectivity theory contends that as people become increasingly aware of limitations on future time, they are increasingly motivated to be more selective in their choice of social partners, favoring emotionally meaningful relationships over peripheral ones. The theory hypothesizes that because age is negatively associated with time left in life, the social networks of older people contain fewer peripheral social partners than those of their younger counterparts. This study tested the hypothesis among African Americans and European Americans, two ethnic groups whose social structural resources differ. Findings confirm the hypothesis. Across a wide age range, 18 to 94 years old, and among both ethnic groups, older people report as many emotionally close social partners but fewer peripheral social partners in their networks as compared to their younger counterparts. Moreover, a greater percentage of very close social partners in social networks is related to lower levels of happiness among the young age group, but not among the older age groups. Implications of findings for adaptive social functioning across the life span are discussed.
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The Influence of Time on Social Preferences: Implications for Life-span Development 
Helene H. Fung, Laura L. Carstensen & Amy M. Lutz

Socioemotional selectivity theory holds that the reliable decline in social contact in later life is due, in part, to older people's preferences for emotionally meaningful social partners and that such preferences are due not to age per se, but to perceived limitations on time. Confirming the theory, in both the United States and Hong Kong, older people showed a preference for familiar social partners whereas younger people did not show this preference. However, when asked to imagine an expansive future, older people’s bias for familiar social partners disappeared. Conversely, in the face of a hypothesized constraint on time, both younger and older people preferred familiar social partners. Moreover, social preferences in Hong Kong differed before and after the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China, which was construed as a sociopolitical time constraint. One year prior to the handover, only older people displayed preferences for familiar partners. Two months before the handover, both age groups showed such preferences. One year after the handover, once again, only older Hong Kong people preferred familiar social partners. 
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