sumption, smoking). Motivating change often entails the communication of persuasive messages to change people’s attitudes about engaging in these behaviors. Very little is known about persuasion processes in older people—and how they might differ from those of younger adults—or about the roles of racial, cultural, or ethnic preferences in those processes over the life course. Given that older adults are motivated to avoid processing negative information and perhaps are more likely to use heuristic processing than younger adults, it is possible that framing or tailoring messages to older audiences might be an especially efficacious means of encouraging long-term change. It is apparent that research that examines the role of socioemotional processes in self-regulation and persuasion holds great promise for developing methods to motivate older adults to make needed changes in their lives.