Summary: New research from SWPS University challenges common assumptions about aging and decision-making. The study shows that older adults are, on average, more willing to take risks than younger adults and are just as capable of resisting common manipulative choice patterns like the attraction (decoy) effect. Using gambling-style tasks, researchers found that although older participants made more errors at first, they quickly learned from experience and reached decision-making performance comparable to younger groups.
These results suggest that cognitive changes with age often reflect adaptation rather than global decline. Given time and the chance to practice, older adults can make complex decisions effectively. The study calls for avoiding infantilisation and for giving older people the opportunity and time to understand new choices—especially in important areas such as finance and healthcare.
Key facts
- Risk-taking: Older adults in the study tended to choose riskier options more often than younger participants.
- Resistance to manipulation: Susceptibility to the attraction (decoy) effect did not differ significantly between age groups.
- Learning and adaptation: Older adults improved with practice, reducing early errors and matching younger adults’ decision fluency by the end of testing.
Source: SWPS University
Overview
As populations age, understanding how older adults make decisions becomes increasingly important. In Poland, for example, people aged 65 and over made up more than 20% of the population in 2023. Many decisions in later life—about savings, investments, insurance, medical treatments, and long-term care—carry serious consequences, so accurate knowledge about decision competence across the lifespan is essential for policymakers, professionals, and families.
Previous research has produced mixed and sometimes contradictory conclusions: some studies portrayed older adults as more risk-averse or more susceptible to manipulation, while others found preserved or even enhanced decision skills in some contexts. The SWPS University study addresses these inconsistencies by testing how age affects both risk preferences and vulnerability to the attraction effect—a choice bias in which a suboptimal “decoy” option shifts preferences between two main alternatives.
Study design and participants
Researchers conducted two complementary experiments using a specially designed roulette-style gambling task. One study was run online with 357 participants and the other in a laboratory with 173 participants. Participants were grouped by age: young adults (18–33 years), middle-aged adults (42–57 years), and older adults (65–80 years). Education levels were similar across groups, helping isolate age-related differences in decision behaviour.
Main findings
The attraction effect proved robust across the experiments, but importantly, susceptibility to it did not vary by age. Older adults were not more easily manipulated by the decoy. Instead, the main differences that emerged were:
- Older adults displayed greater risk-seeking tendencies in the tasks compared with younger adults.
- Older participants initially made more simple mistakes, especially in early trials, but they quickly learned from feedback.
- Decision fluency and accuracy improved at similar rates across age groups, so by the end of the testing sequence older adults performed on par with younger participants.
Interpretation and implications
The pattern observed—slower initial performance but comparable learning and final competence—highlights that changes in decision-making with age often reflect slower processing of novel information rather than diminished capacity to make sound choices. As Dr. Maciej Kościelniak (Faculty of Psychology and Law, SWPS University) notes, this reframes aging as adaptation: older adults can optimise decisions when given time and the chance to familiarise themselves with options and consequences.
These insights have practical consequences. When older adults are supported with clear explanations, practice opportunities, or extra time—rather than being overprotected or excluded—they are more likely to arrive at good decisions. The findings are relevant for financial advisers, healthcare professionals, family members, and public policy designers working with older populations.
About this research
Author: Marta Danowska-Kisiel
Source: SWPS University
Contact: Marta Danowska-Kisiel – SWPS University
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original research (open access): “Effect of age on susceptibility to the attraction effect in sequential risky decision-making” by Maciej Kościelniak et al., published in Ageing and Society.
Abstract
Effect of age on susceptibility to the attraction effect in sequential risky decision-making
This study evaluates age-related differences in susceptibility to the attraction (decoy) effect during sequential risky decision-making. Across two experiments—a large online sample and a controlled lab study—results were consistent: the attraction effect is robust, but its influence does not differ by age. Older adults were more prone to simple decision errors in initial trials and showed greater risk-seeking tendencies, yet they exhibited similar dynamics of improvement and decision fluency as younger adults. These findings indicate that decision competence in late adulthood may be preserved when older individuals have time and opportunity to familiarise themselves with new tasks and choices.