Age, Group Decisions on Risk-related Topics and the Prediction of Choice Shifts

Abstract

Assertions in the literature that the elderly are less willing to make decisions involving risk than are the young were tested by comparing the decision-making of two samples: one of 36 undergraduates and one of 26 subjects aged 55–65. Neither on their initial decisions nor in their group discussions of choice dilemma items did the older differ from the younger sample. The predictive validity of Stoner's Value Ranking Instrument was tested with both samples; and in neither was the instrument successful in indicating which items subsequently produced cautious shifts and which shifts to greater risk following group discussion. One reason for the inadequacy of Stoner's method of examining particular cultures' value for risk may lie in the abstractness of the instrument he has developed.