TY - JOUR
T1 - Aging Impairs Inhibitory Control Over Incidental Cues
T2 - A Construal-Level Perspective
AU - Hadar, Liat
AU - Trope, Yaacov
AU - Ben-David, Boaz M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2021/9
Y1 - 2021/9
N2 - Age-related changes in decision making have been attributed to deterioration of cognitive skills, such as learning and memory. On the basis of past research showing age-related decreases in the ability to inhibit irrelevant information, we hypothesize that these changes occur, in part, because of older adults’ tendency to give more weight to low-level, subordinate, and goal-irrelevant information than younger adults do. Consistent with this hypothesis, our findings demonstrated that young adults are willing to pay more for a product with superior end attributes than a product with superior means attributes (Study 1, N = 200) and are more satisfied after an experience with superior end than means attributes (Study 2, N = 399). Young adults are also more satisfied with a goal-relevant than with a goal-irrelevant product (Study 3, N = 201; Study 4, N = 200, preregistered). Importantly, these effects were attenuated with age. Implications for research on construal level and aging, as well as implications for policymakers, are discussed.
AB - Age-related changes in decision making have been attributed to deterioration of cognitive skills, such as learning and memory. On the basis of past research showing age-related decreases in the ability to inhibit irrelevant information, we hypothesize that these changes occur, in part, because of older adults’ tendency to give more weight to low-level, subordinate, and goal-irrelevant information than younger adults do. Consistent with this hypothesis, our findings demonstrated that young adults are willing to pay more for a product with superior end attributes than a product with superior means attributes (Study 1, N = 200) and are more satisfied after an experience with superior end than means attributes (Study 2, N = 399). Young adults are also more satisfied with a goal-relevant than with a goal-irrelevant product (Study 3, N = 201; Study 4, N = 200, preregistered). Importantly, these effects were attenuated with age. Implications for research on construal level and aging, as well as implications for policymakers, are discussed.
KW - aging
KW - choice
KW - construal level
KW - inhibition
KW - preregistered
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85112402661&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0956797621998316
DO - 10.1177/0956797621998316
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C2 - 34383576
AN - SCOPUS:85112402661
SN - 0956-7976
VL - 32
SP - 1442
EP - 1451
JO - Psychological Science
JF - Psychological Science
IS - 9
ER -