From gains to losses: Age-related differences in decisions under risk in a non-monetary gambling task

TY - JOUR

T1 - From gains to losses: Age-related differences in decisions under risk in a non-monetary gambling task

AU - Depping, Miriam K.

AU - Best, Ryan

AU - Freund, Alexandra M.

N1 - Funding Information: The research was funded by a stipend of the Jacobs Foundation awarded to Miriam K. Depping as well as a grant from the Suzanne and Hans Biäsch Foundation for the Promotion of Applied Psychology awarded to M. K. Depping. Funding Information: Miriam K. Depping is now at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. The studies were conceptualized and conducted as part of the doctoral thesis of Miriam K. Depping who was a fellow of the International Max Planck Research School on the Life Course (LIFE). The authors are grateful for tremendously helpful input by Richard Gonzalez and Andreas Keil in theoretical and methodological aspects of the study. We would also like to thank the Life-Management team at the University of Zurich for discussions of the work reported in this article and Stefan Gabriel, Noemi Ribaut, Josua Schmeitzky, and Sandra Schneider for assistance with data collection and scoring. The study also included a sample of adolescents. Data were collected in schools instead of the laboratory which resulted in less controlled recording conditions; leading to technical issues in recording physiological data and a low adherence to study instructions. Therefore, we omitted the data from the analyses presented in this manuscript. Data can be made available upon request. Funding information The research was funded by a stipend of the Jacobs Foundation awarded to Miriam K. Depping as well as a grant from the Suzanne and Hans Bi?sch Foundation for the Promotion of Applied Psychology awarded to M. K. Depping. Both studies were conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the Ethics Committee of the University of Zurich (contact person: Professor Klaus Oberauer), including the appropriate way to obtain informed consent and providing debriefing. Neither of the studies involved any form of deception. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The British Psychological Society

PY - 2021/6

Y1 - 2021/6

N2 - Lifespan theory suggests a shift from a primary orientation towards attaining gains in young adulthood to preventing losses in older adulthood. The current research tested if this motivational shift is reflected in behavioural and emotional responses to risks in non-monetary gains and losses. Study 1 established in a sample of N = 168 younger (18–30 years) and older adults (65–79 years) that a non-monetary gambling task was experienced similarly by the age groups with respect to arousal and valence of the task, and the willingness to continue playing. In Study 2 (N = 83), differences between young (18–30 years) and older (64–85 years) adults’ risk-taking in this non-monetary gambling task with mixed gambles were tested while assessing physiological responses (event-related heart rate change) to gain and loss feedback. Behavioural – but not physiological – results confirm hypotheses derived from a lifespan motivational framework regarding age-differential effects of gains and losses.

AB - Lifespan theory suggests a shift from a primary orientation towards attaining gains in young adulthood to preventing losses in older adulthood. The current research tested if this motivational shift is reflected in behavioural and emotional responses to risks in non-monetary gains and losses. Study 1 established in a sample of N = 168 younger (18–30 years) and older adults (65–79 years) that a non-monetary gambling task was experienced similarly by the age groups with respect to arousal and valence of the task, and the willingness to continue playing. In Study 2 (N = 83), differences between young (18–30 years) and older (64–85 years) adults’ risk-taking in this non-monetary gambling task with mixed gambles were tested while assessing physiological responses (event-related heart rate change) to gain and loss feedback. Behavioural – but not physiological – results confirm hypotheses derived from a lifespan motivational framework regarding age-differential effects of gains and losses.

KW - adult development

KW - ageing

KW - decision-making

KW - gains and losses

KW - motivation

KW - risk-taking

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097103106&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/bjdp.12362

DO - 10.1111/bjdp.12362

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 33275312

AN - SCOPUS:85097103106

VL - 39

SP - 312

EP - 329

JO - BRIT J DEV PSYCHOL

JF - BRIT J DEV PSYCHOL

SN - 0261-510X

IS - 2

ER -