Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2019 Feb 15;74(3):430-439. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbx094.
People's preferences for temporal sequences of events have implications for life-long health and well-being. Prior research suggests that other aspects of intertemporal choice vary by age, but evidence for age differences in sequence-preferences is limited and inconclusive. In response, the present research examined age differences in sequence-preferences for real outcomes administered in a controlled laboratory setting.
A pilot study examined sequence-preferences for aversive electrodermal shocks in 30 younger and 30 older adults. The main study examined sequence-preferences for electrodermal shocks, physical effort, and monetary gambles in an adult life-span sample (N = 120). It also examined emotional and physiological responses to sequences as well as underlying mechanisms including time perception and emotion-regulation.
There were no significant age differences in sequence-preferences in either of the studies, and there were no age differences in responses to sequences in the main study. Instead, there was a domain effect with participants preferring decreasing sequences for shocks and mixed sequences for effort and money.
After considering potential methodological limitations, theoretical contributions and implications for real-life decisions are discussed.
人们对事件时间顺序的偏好对终身健康和幸福有影响。先前的研究表明，跨期选择的其他方面因年龄而异，但关于序列偏好的年龄差异的证据有限且不一致。有鉴于此，本研究在受控实验室环境中检查了真实结果的序列偏好的年龄差异。
一项初步研究检查了 30 名年轻成年人和 30 名年长成年人对电击的厌恶的序列偏好。主要研究在成人生命周期样本（N=120）中检查了电击、体力劳动和金钱赌博的序列偏好。它还检查了对序列的情绪和生理反应以及包括时间感知和情绪调节在内的潜在机制。
在这两项研究中，序列偏好都没有显著的年龄差异，并且在主要研究中，对序列的反应也没有年龄差异。相反，存在一个领域效应，参与者更喜欢电击的递减序列，以及努力和金钱的混合序列。
在考虑了潜在的方法学限制之后，讨论了理论贡献和对现实生活决策的影响。
