New perspectives for motivating better decisions in older adults

Abstract

Decision-making competence in later adulthood is affected by declines in cognitive skills, and age-related changes in affect and experience can sometimes compensate. However, recent findings suggest that age-related changes in motivation also affect the extent to which adults draw from experience, affect, and deliberative skills when making decisions. To date, relatively little attention has been given to strategies for addressing age-related changes in motivation to promote better decisions in older adults. To address this limitation, we draw from diverse literatures to suggest promising intervention strategies for motivating older recipients’ motivation to make better decisions. We start by reviewing the life-span developmental literature, which suggests that older adults’ motivation to put effort into decisions depends on the perceived personal relevance of decisions as well as their self-efficacy (i.e., confidence in applying their ability and knowledge). Next, we discuss two approaches from the health intervention design literature, the mental models approach and the patient activation approach, which aim to improve motivation for decision making by improving personal relevance or by building self-efficacy or confidence to use new information and skills. Using examples from these literatures, we discuss how to construct interventions to motivate good decisions in later adulthood.

Hour glass half full or half empty? Future time perspective and preoccupation with negative events across the life span.

“…People perceived that their decision-making abilities had gotten worse with age, which is consistent with other research (see Strough et al, 2015 for a review). Older age was also associated with viewing one's decision-making abilities as worse than those of other people the same age.…”

“…This is consistent with findings showing older age is associated with worse perceived decision-making competence relative to people of unspecified ages (Bruine de Bruin et al, 2012), but is inconsistent with work on social comparisons in other domains (Bauer et al, 2008; Heckhausen & Brim, 1997; Heckhausen & Krueger, 1993). Perhaps decision-making ability is a domain where older adults are unlikely to view themselves as better off than others, which could be detrimental if it decreases motivation to engage in complex decisions (see Bruine de Bruin, McNair, Taylor, Summers, & Strough, 2014; Strough et al, 2015). …”

What were they thinking? Reducing sunk-cost bias in a life-span sample.

“…Hence, altering motivation may be one way to change the decision-making process to improve decisions (Bruine de Bruin, McNair, Taylor, Summers, & Strough, 2015; Strough, Bruine de Bruin, & Peters, 2015a). A few empirical studies support this idea.…”

Gaps in Aging Research as it Applies to Rheumatologic Clinical Care

“…We are learning that older adults make health related decisions in different ways than younger adults facing similar health decisions. 67 Research in the field of Lifespan Development Psychology demonstrates how motivations and specific goals vary with age. Motivation affects the degree to which older adults use prior experience, affect, and deliberative skills to make decisions.…”

“…Motivation affects the degree to which older adults use prior experience, affect, and deliberative skills to make decisions. 67 For example, a growing literature highlights the role of age-related shifts in the ratio of gains and losses. Older adults who face an accumulation of losses of internal and external resources will often prioritize maintenance goals and prevention of losses (i.e., function).…”