TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2011//
TI  - Age differences in risky choice: a meta-analysis
JO  - Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
A1  - Mata, Rui
A1  - Josef, Anika K.
A1  - Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R.
A1  - Hertwig, Ralph
SP  - 18
EP  - 29
VL  - 1235
IS  - 1
N2  - 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.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0077-8923
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06200.x
ID  - ref1
ER  -