Prosocial behavior in aging: which factors can explain age-related differences in social-economic decision making?
OBJECTIVES
Older adults tend to exhibit more prosocial behavior than younger adults. However, little research has focused on understanding the factors that may explain such differences in the social decision-making process. The first aim was to examine if, and to what degree, the content of social information about a recipient has an impact on young vs. older adults' prosocial behavior. The second aim was to understand if empathic concern, Theory of Mind, and reasoning explain the (expected) age differences in prosociality.


DESIGN
Cross-sectional study.


SETTING
The study was conducted in northern Italy in a laboratory setting.


PARTICIPANTS
Forty-eight younger adults (Mage = 23.29; SD = 2.20) and 48 older adults (Mage = 70.19; SD = 5.13).


MEASUREMENTS
Prosocial behavior was measured using the Dictator Game in which participants split a sum of money with recipients presented with four levels of description: no information, physical description, positive psychological description, and negative psychological description. In addition, participants performed tasks on emphatic concern, Theory of Mind, and reasoning.


RESULTS
Results showed that older adults are more prosocial than younger adults in the Dictator Game. This finding was evident when the recipient was described with positive psychological and physical features. This pattern of results was statistically explained by the reduction in reasoning ability.


CONCLUSION
These findings suggest a relationship between age-related reduction in reasoning ability and older adults' prosocial behavior. The theoretical and practical implication of the empirical findings are discussed.
['Rosi|Alessia|A|0000-0001-6692-3279', 'Nola|Marta|M|', 'Lecce|Serena|S|', 'Cavallini|Elena|E|']
D000328:Adult D000367:Age Factors D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D000375:Aging D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D003657:Decision Making D004645:Empathy D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007558:Italy D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D012919:Social Behavior D012959:Socioeconomic Factors D056345:Theory of Mind D055815:Young Adult
aging social-economic decision making theory of mind reasoning Dictator Game cognition empathy individual differences