Department of Psychology, Cornell University.
J Exp Psychol Gen. 2023 Apr;152(4):1175-1187. doi: 10.1037/xge0001317. Epub 2022 Nov 10.
Decision makers are more likely to passively accept than to actively reject preselected default options. Age differences in such "default effects" have not been systematically examined, but prior research reports age-related variation in several known determinants of default effects suggesting that they may be more common in older as compared to younger adults. To address this question, a representative life span sample ( = 500; = 49.90, = 19.34; 51% female, 49% male; 67% non-Hispanic White) responded to a preregistered online study. Participants completed a default effect task comprising two conditions, one requiring opt-out and one requiring opt-in decisions (i.e., 15 vs. 0 preselected features each). Susceptibility to defaults was assessed as the discrepancy between the number of features selected within each condition. In addition, we collected data on known determinants of default effects (i.e., perceived endowment, endorsement, ease, experience making similar choices, importance of the choice, and affective responses to the choice). Finally, we screened demographic background, personality, socioemotional and health status, and cognitive ability. Susceptibility to default effects was evident both at the individual and the group level. Unlike hypothesized, older age did not predict greater susceptibility to defaults, and older adults were less likely to endorse determinants of default effect compliance. Of the covariates assessed, only identifying as non-Hispanic White, greater perceived endorsement, greater perceived ease, and lower perceived importance of making the right choice predicted decision makers' susceptibility to default effects. Thus, our findings suggest that susceptibility to decision defaults does not vary by age. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
决策者更倾向于被动接受而不是主动拒绝预先选定的默认选项。但对于这种“默认效应”的年龄差异，尚未进行系统研究，不过先前的研究报告显示，默认效应的几个已知决定因素存在与年龄相关的变化，这表明默认效应在老年人中比在年轻人中更为常见。为了解决这个问题，一项代表性的全生命周期样本（n=500；年龄：49.90，标准差：19.34；51%女性，49%男性；67%非西班牙裔白人）参与了一项预先注册的在线研究。参与者完成了一个默认效应任务，该任务包括两个条件，一个需要选择退出，一个需要选择加入决策（即每个条件下预先选择 15 个与 0 个特征）。默认效应的易感性评估为每个条件下选择的特征数量差异。此外，我们还收集了默认效应的已知决定因素（即感知赋予、认可、易用性、类似选择经验、选择的重要性和对选择的情感反应）的数据。最后，我们筛选了人口统计学背景、个性、社会情感和健康状况以及认知能力。在个体和群体层面都明显存在对默认效应的易感性。与假设相反，年龄较大并不预示着更容易受到默认的影响，老年人更不可能认可默认效应遵守的决定因素。在所评估的协变量中，只有认定为非西班牙裔白人、更大的感知认可、更大的感知易用性以及更低的做出正确选择的重要性预测了决策者对默认效应的易感性。因此，我们的研究结果表明，对决策默认的易感性不因年龄而异。
