Sticking with the status quo: How defaults shape the age-related positivity effect

As people get older, they often exhibit a relative preference for positive over negative information in attention, a phenomenon known as the positivity effect. Although this effect is well-documented, prior studies have typically required participants to view experimenter-selected stimuli. In daily life, however, people often choose their own emotional inputs, and these choices can be shaped by psychological inertia and status quo biases. Because psychological inertia increases with age, we tested how the presence of default options influences positivity effects. Across two studies (final Ns = 82 and 181), younger and older adults completed a proactive choice task where each trial began with a default image (negative, neutral, or positive). Participants could do nothing and continue viewing this default or press a key to switch to a known alternative (e.g., switch from negative to neutral). Older adults were more likely than younger adults to continue viewing defaults, regardless of valence. When defaults were positive, this produced an age-related positivity bias, with older adults viewing comparatively more positive images. Conversely, when defaults were negative, there was an age-related negativity bias, with older adults viewing comparatively more negative images. When defaults were neutral, older adults were less likely than younger adults to seek out negative or positive alternatives. Study 2 included a manipulation designed to reduce psychological inertia, and while this increased switching, older adults continued to stick with defaults more often than younger adults. These findings highlight the contextual nature of positivity effects, showing they vary with the default environment's valence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).