Work

Age differences in risky choice: a meta‐analysis

Year: 2011

Type: review

Abstract: Does risk taking change as a function of age? We conducted a systematic literature search and found 29 comparisons between younger and older adults on behavioral tasks thought to measure risk taking (N= 4,093). The reports relied on various tasks differing in several respects, such as the amount of learning required or the choice framing (gains vs. losses). The results suggest that age-related differences vary considerably as a function of task characteristics, in particular the learning requirements of the task. In decisions from experience, age-related differences in risk taking were a function of decreased learning performance: older adults were more risk seeking compared to younger adults when learning led to risk-avoidant behavior, but were more risk averse when learning led to risk-seeking behavior. In decisions from description, younger adults and older adults showed similar risk-taking behavior for the majority of the tasks, and there were no clear age-related differences as a function of gain/loss framing. We discuss limitations and strengths of past research and provide suggestions for future work on age-related differences in risk taking.

Source: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06200.x

Authors: Rui Mata, Anika K. Josef, Gregory R. Samanez‐Larkin, Ralph Hertwig

Institutions: University of Basel, Vanderbilt University

Language: English

Topic: Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics

Subfield: General Decision Sciences

Field: Decision Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute on Aging

Awards: Imaging the Human Reward System Across the Adult Life Span, Research Network on Decision Neuroscience and Aging, G6065528401