Shifts toward risk in adults at three age levels

The Kogan-Wallach Choice Dilemmas Questionnaire was administered twice with an intervening group discussion to 192 volunteer subjects at 3 age levels; young (18-23 years), middle-aged (40-50 years), and elderly (65-75 years). One-half of the subjects took part in a group discussion that was relevant to the choice dilemmas and one-half participated in a non-relevant discussion. In addition, one-half of the 4-person discussion groups were homogeneous for age level and one-half contained 2 representatives from each of 2 age levels, yielding 6 different age combinations. There were 88 male and 104 female subjects, but all 48 discussion groups were homogeneous for sex. Overall, younger subjects were riskier than older ones but all age levels shifted toward risk following a relevant discussion. In mixed-age groups, older subjects shifted more than younger group members when adjacent age levels interacted. However, young subjects had a larger shift, and the elderly a smaller one, when these extreme age levels interacted. It was concluded that young persons attempted to maximize their difference from the elderly and, unlike the middle-aged, are not a viable reference group for the elderly.