Individual Differences in Decision-Making Styles across the Life Span Rebecca Delaney, B.A. 1, JoNell Strough, Ph.D 1, Tara Karns, M.S. 1, Wandi Bruine de Bruin, Ph.D 2, 3, & Andrew Parker, Ph.D 2 1 Life-Span Developmental Psychology, West Virginia University; 2 RAND Corporation; 3 Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds & Carnegie Mellon University Results Participants, Procedure, and Measures Abstract Background For further information, please contact: Rebecca Delaney or JoNell Strough ) Discussion Little research investigates decision-making styles (habitual decision- making patterns) across adulthood. Theorists suggest older age may be associated with greater spontaneity, intuition, dependence on others, or avoiding decisions due to declines in cognitive abilities necessary for a rational style (Peters, Hess, Västfjäll, & Auman, 2007). We investigated decision styles as a function of age and age-related individual characteristics. Members of RAND’s American Life Panel (N=745, yrs, M = 55 yrs) completed a web-based survey. Hierarchical regressions predicted self-reported decision-making styles (rational, intuitive, spontaneous, dependent, avoidant). Significant Betas indicated: Older age predicted less spontaneity and avoidance. More education predicted less intuition. Higher income predicted less avoidance. Men were more spontaneous and avoidant. Better perceived decision-making ability relative to age peers predicted a more rational style, and less dependence and avoidance. Perceptions of improved decision-making ability over time and better perceived health predicted less avoidance. Dual-process theories of decision making portray rationality and intuition as two different “systems” that underlie decisions (Evans, 2008; Kahneman, 2003; Stanovich & West, 2000). The rational system requires deliberation about facts and is generally thought to lead to “good” or unbiased decisions, whereas the intuitive system is characterized by “gut feelings” that can lead to biased decisions. Dual-process theories of aging suggest that reliance on the two systems changes systematically with age (Peters et. al, 2007). Individuals may compensate for age-related cognitive declines that could undermine use of the rational mode by relying more on intuition. Other theorists note that individual differences in the extent to which people use reason and intuition can be thought of as “styles” (Scott & Bruce, 1995, p. 820). Whereas some people may rely more on reason and others more on intuition, some may also use a different approach altogether such as depending on others or avoiding decisions. Societal stereotypes portray women and men as using different styles with women as relying more on intuition and men as relying more on reason. We investigated age and gender differences in decision making styles and age-related individual difference characteristics (fluid cognitive ability, perceived decision making ability (temporal and social), perceived health) that might predict individuals’ characterizations of themselves as rational, intuitive, dependent, spontaneous, and avoidant decision makers across the life span. 745 participants from RAND’s American Life Panel ( Panel members are regularly sent invitations to participate in web-based surveys Data reported here are from a single survey (response rate = 79.5%), except data on fluid cognitive ability which was collected earlier as part of a different survey M age= 55.88; SD = 12.80, range= % female; 91.4% Caucasian 52.4% received Bachelor’s degree or higher 41.5% family income > $75,000 Measures General Decision-Making Style Inventory (Scott & Bruce; 1995) 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree) Rational (α=.86; 4 items)"I make decisions in a logical and systematic way" Intuitive (α=.80; 5 items)"When making decisions, I rely upon my instincts" Dependent (α=.86; 5 items) "I use the advice of other people in making my important decisions" Avoidant (α=.85; 5 items)"I postpone decision making whenever possible" Spontaneous (α=.85; 5 items)"I often make impulsive decisions" Perceived Decision-Making Ability (adapted from Strough et al., 2002) 1 (better), 2 (the same), 3 (not as good) Temporal comparison(3 items; α=.84)“As I have gotten older, my ability to make decisions is…” Social comparison (3 items; α=.81) “Compared with people your age, would you say your ability to make decisions is…” Perceived Health (Lawton et al., 1982) (4 items, α=.75, reverse scored)1 (better), 2 (the same), 3 (not as good) "Is your health now better, about the same, or not as good as it was 3 years ago?" Fluid Cognitive Ability-Number Series (adapted from Woodcock et al., 2001) Block Adaptive Testing format: Determine pattern of numbers and missing value; 15 items Mathematical reasoning test of fluid cognitive ability “Please complete the series of numbers. 3, 5, 7, ___” Rational (N= 727) Intuitive (N= 728) Dependent (N= 728) Avoidant (N= 728) Spontaneous (N= 727) Step 1β (s) R2R ***.01.02*0.02** Age **-.09* Gender (0=males, 1= females) ** Ethnicity (0= Non-white, 1= White) Family Income **-.06 Highest Education ** Step 2 R2R2.05***.04**.03**.11***0.03* ΔR2ΔR2.04***.01.02**.09***0.01 Age ***-.09* Gender (0=males, 1= females) *-.11** Ethnicity (0= Non-white, 1= White) Family Income Highest Education * Perceived Health **-.06 Fluid Cognitive Ability Decision-Making Ability Temporal Comparison *.00 Social Comparison.20*** ***-.20***-.03 Note. p <.001 ***, p <.01 **, p <.05 * Contrary to hypotheses based on dual-process theories of the aging and decision making (e.g., Peters et al., 2007), older people were not less likely to report using a rational decision-making style, nor were they more likely to report using intuition. Older age was related to a decrease in both avoidant and spontaneous styles. With age, people may learn that it is best to make decisions as they arise rather than postponing them, and not be impulsive when making a choice. Our findings do not support societal stereotypes about gender differences in reason, intuition, and dependence (cf., Phillips et al., 1984; Sinclair et al., 2010; Sadler-Smith, 2011). An unanticipated finding was that men were more likely than women to report using avoidant and spontaneous styles. Having less education was related to reporting greater use of an intuitive style. Other research shows higher education relates to using a rational style (Parker, et al., 2007). This was not replicated in the current sample, but together these studies show that education is important for understanding individual differences in decision-making styles. Consistent with Parker et al. (2007), those who reported lower family income were more likely to report using an avoidant style, highlighting how economic factors may constrain how people approach decision making; alternatively, avoiding decisions may limit the accumulation of financial resources. Higher perceived decision-making ability was related to a greater likelihood of reporting a rational style and a lower likelihood of reporting dependent and avoidant styles. However, actual ability (as assessed by the fluid ability measure) was not related to any of the styles. For the dependent style, findings are in accord with research suggesting that older adults prefer working with others to solve everyday problems when they perceive their own abilities less positively (Strough et al., 2002). Those who perceive themselves to be better decision makers than age peers reported using a rational approach to think carefully about decisions, and that they approach decisions when they arise rather than put them off. Perceiving that one’s decision abilities had declined with age was associated with reporting an avoidant style. People who perceive declines in their ability may avoid decisions due to fears about making a bad choice or because they find it cognitively challenging to compare different options. Those who reported worse health were more likely to report using an avoidant style. Our findings concur with qualitative findings from Samsi and Manthorpe (2011) who found that adults over the age of 50 were more likely to postpone planning as they aged and had poorer health. Our correlational data do not address the causal direction of relations, nor do they address how decision styles may vary across domains. The variance accounted for by the predictors was small. Future research should investigate how age, gender, and other individual differences relate to styles used within different domains of decision making (e.g. financial and health) and the consequences of these styles for the decisions people make in their everyday lives. Research Questions RQ 1: Are there age-related differences in decision-making styles? RQ 2: Are there gender-related differences in decision-making styles? RQ 3: Do individual difference characteristics (i.e. ethnicity, family income, education) account for differences in decision-making styles? RQ 4: Do age-related individual difference characteristics (i.e. cognitive ability, perceived health, decision-making ability) account for differences in decision- making styles? Table 1. Hierarchical regressions predicting decision-making styles