Aging myths challenged: Elderly more risk-tolerant and resistant to manipulative choices

Older adults are more inclined toward risk-taking than previously believed, and they also demonstrate an inherent ability to resist manipulation effectively, according to a study conducted by SWPS University researchers that challenges prevailing myths about this age group.

Polish society is inevitably aging. According to Statistics Poland (GUS) data, the group of people aged 65 and older increased to 7.5 million in 2023, constituting over 20% of the population. This becomes particularly significant considering that older adults often need to make important financial and health-related decisions.

Previous research on the decision-making abilities of older adults has not yielded consistent conclusions. Some studies portray older adults as risk-averse and susceptible to manipulation , while others suggest the opposite. The study by SWPS University researchers challenges common beliefs about how aging affects decision-making, particularly in situations involving risk and uncertainty. It turns out that with some practice and familiarity with the task, older people have the same ability to make complex decisions as younger people, and they should be neither underestimated nor overprotected when making important choices.

"The study challenges dominant stereotypes about aging and decision-making. Too often, older people are portrayed as defenseless and less capable of making correct decisions, which can lead to their infantilisation or exclusion from important choices," emphasises one of the study authors, Dr. Maciej Kościelniak from the Faculty of Psychology and Law in Poznań at SWPS University, Head of Department of Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology.

Older Adults More Likely to Take Risks

In the paper "Effect of Age on Susceptibility to Attraction Effect in Sequential Risky Decision-Making" published in Ageing and Society, researchers focused on older adults' susceptibility to the attraction effect, also known in the literature as the decoy effect or asymmetric dominance effect. The scientists also examined how decision-making in risky situations changed with age.

Using specially designed gambling tasks, researchers conducted two experiments: an online study with 357 participants, and a laboratory study with 173 participants. Participants were divided into age groups: young adults (18-33 years), middle-aged adults (42-57 years), and older adults (65-80 years). There was no significant difference between groups in terms of years of education.

The findings were surprising: while older adults were significantly more prone to risk-taking than younger people, both age groups were equally capable of resisting manipulation related to the attraction effect.

Slower but Capable of Correcting Errors Based on Experience

Importantly, although– as expected – older adults initially made more mistakes in situations that could have serious financial and social consequences, they successfully learned and improved their decision-making process through practice. It simply took them more time. By the end of the trial, they performed just as well as younger adults. This suggests that while aging may affect the speed of processing new information, it does not reduce the ability to make good decisions, or defences against manipulation.

"The discovery that learning ability is comparable between older and younger adults has profoundly influenced my view on cognitive functions in the aging process – it's not simply a story of decline, but rather one of adaptation," emphasises Maciej Kościelniak.

The researchers' observations provide insight into the cognitive functioning of older adults and indicate that decision-making ability in late adulthood may be more complex than commonly believed.

These findings have important implications for addressing age-based stereotypes. "Whether we're talking about interactions with financial advisors, healthcare workers, or family members helping older people make decisions, our findings suggest that older adults often do not need protection from choices, but rather an opportunity and sufficient time to become familiar with new situations," says Maciej Kościelniak.