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Aging and Economic Preferences: Cumulative Meta-Analyses of Age Differences in Risk, Time, Social, and Effort
Alexandra Bagaïni1, Yunrui Liu1, Arzie Bajrami1
1Faculty of Psychology, Center for Cognitive and Decision Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Summary
Economic preferences like risk-taking and time perception show minimal age-related changes. While patience and altruism may slightly increase with age, these effects are not practically significant, challenging some aging theories.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Economics
- Developmental Psychology
- Gerontology
Background:
- Numerous theories propose that individuals' economic preferences evolve throughout their lifespan.
- Understanding these changes is crucial for developing accurate models of human behavior and decision-making across different age groups.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct meta-analyses on age differences in risk, time, social, and effort preferences.
- To provide a historical overview of the literature on age-related economic preference changes.
- To test existing theories predicting shifts in economic preferences with age.
Main Methods:
- Performed separate and cumulative meta-analyses to assess the association between age and various economic preferences.
- Analyzed historical trends in sample sizes and citation patterns for studies on economic preferences.
- Utilized equivalence tests to evaluate the practical significance of observed age effects.
Main Results:
- Meta-analyses revealed no significant age effects for risk and effort preferences.
- Significant age effects were found for time preferences (increased patience) and social preferences (increased altruism).
- Equivalence tests indicated that all observed age effects were of trivial practical significance.
Conclusions:
- The findings challenge theories predicting substantial age-related changes in risk and effort preferences.
- Results offer limited support for theories suggesting significant age-related shifts in time and social preferences.
- The study highlights the need for refined theoretical frameworks and future empirical research on economic preferences across the lifespan.
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