Aging and decision making: Differences in susceptibility to the risky-choice framing effect between older and younger adults in Japan

This study investigates the characteristics of the risky-choice framing effect among older adults (more than 65 years of age) in comparison to younger adults. Data from a questionnaire survey with randomly sampled participants from voter lists in two cities in northern Japan were reanalyzed. Wang's (1996) definition of the risky-choice framing effect was applied for analyzing data. The younger group showed a typical risky-choice framing effect, while the older group failed to show any framing effect. Both age groups in the positive frame showed an increasingly higher risk-aversive tendency corresponding to the monotonically increased number of human lives at risk. The modified value function was proposed to explain the susceptibility differences in the framing effect between the two groups. The socioemotional selectivity theory and the decision mode were applied for explaining the shape of the modified value function of the older group.