Selective Social Information Sampling as a Mechanism Contributing to Age Differences in Risk‐Taking Propensity

ABSTRACT A wealth of research indicates that the propensity to take risks declines with advancing age. Theoretical accounts of age‐related differences in risk‐taking propensity center on developmental changes, namely, age‐related changes in goal orientation and cognitive and biological functioning. The current research identifies a person's social environment as another factor in shaping risk‐taking propensity across the lifetime. In three experiments, we investigated how the social information people seek and receive from others about risky activities shapes their risk‐taking propensity. In a novel decision task, participants received descriptions of the experiences of others (i.e., recommenders) to inform their evaluations of risky activities (in the financial and recreational domains; e.g., a 1‐day stand‐up paddling trip). We manipulated the valence of descriptions provided by younger and older recommenders (e.g., “I felt safe” [positive] and “I did not enjoy it as I felt unsafe” [negative]). In Experiment 1, younger and older participants preferentially sought the experiences of others who were a similar age to themselves. These preferential tendencies led to age‐related differences in risk‐taking propensity due to exposure to the valence of descriptions of experiences provided by others. We also tested for differential weighting of social information according to recommender age in the recreational (Experiment 2a) and financial (Experiment 2b) domains. Of the two mechanisms examined, selective sampling of social information from same‐age others, rather than differential sensitivity to social information, received the strongest support as a mechanism of age‐related differences in risk‐taking propensity. However, where differential sensitivity to social information occurred within domains, it suggested that younger and older adults draw on age‐related stereotypes (e.g., related to physical abilities) to weigh the social information received from others. Together, our findings identify selective exposure to age‐relevant social information as a mechanism through which social influence can contribute to age differences in risk‐taking propensity.