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Updated: Aug 17, 2025

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
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Age Differences in Prosocial Behavior Depend on Effort Costs.

Kaileigh A Byrne1, Patricia L Lockwood2,3,4,5, Reza Ghaiumy Anaraky1

  • 1Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA.

The Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
|December 16, 2022
PubMed
Summary

Older adults are more prosocial in effortless situations but less willing to engage in effortful prosocial behavior, especially when rewards are unlikely. This suggests resource conservation influences their willingness to help.

Keywords:
AgingAltruismDecision-makingEffortProsocial behavior

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Behavioral Economics
  • Gerontology

Background:

  • Prosocial behavior is crucial for societal functioning.
  • Age-related differences in decision-making and prosociality are not fully understood, particularly concerning effort.
  • Understanding these differences can inform interventions promoting social engagement across the lifespan.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate age-related differences in willingness to engage in effortful versus effortless prosocial behavior.
  • To examine how effort demands and reward probability influence prosociality in older and younger adults.

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments were conducted using the Prolific online platform.
  • Participants completed the Dictator Game (effortless prosociality) and a pay-it-forward task (effortful prosociality) with varying effort demands.
  • Age groups (older and younger adults) were compared on their prosocial decisions.

Main Results:

  • Older adults exhibited greater prosociality than younger adults in the effortless Dictator Game.
  • In an effortful task with fixed demands, older adults were less prosocial.
  • When effort demands were calibrated to ability, older adults were less prosocial only when reward probability was low.

Conclusions:

  • Older adults are more prosocial than younger adults when no effort is required.
  • Effortful prosocial behavior is reduced in older adults, particularly when reward likelihood is low, indicating a potential focus on resource conservation.
  • Physical resource constraints may limit older adults' engagement in effortful prosocial activities, despite a potential underlying preference for prosociality.