Abstract

The present study sought to investigate the influence of advice on decision-making in older age, as well as the potential influence of depressive symptoms and age-related differences in the cognitively demanding emotion regulation on advice-taking. A non-clinical sample (N = 156; 50% female; 47 young: M age = 29.87, SD = 5.58; 54 middle-aged: M age = 50.91, SD = 7.13; 55 older: M age = 72.51, SD = 5.33) completed a judge-advisor task to measure degree of advice-taking, as well as measures of fluid intelligence, depressive symptoms, confidence, perceived advice accuracy, and emotion regulation. Age did not influence degree of advice-taking. Greater depressive symptoms were associated with more reliance on advice, but only among individuals who identified as emotion regulators. Interestingly, older age was associated with perceiving advice to be less accurate. The study contributes to the sparse literature on advice-taking in older age. Cognitive and emotional factors influence the degree to which advice is incorporated into decision-making in consistent ways across the adult lifespan. A key difference is that older adults take as much advice as younger adults despite perceiving the advice to be less accurate.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.