Citation

Mayhorn CB, Fisk AD, Whittle JD. Hum. Factors 2002; 44(4): 515-521.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7801, USA. chris_mayhorn@ncsu.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12691361

Abstract

Decision making in uncertain environments is a daily challenge faced by adults of all ages. Framing decision options as either gains or losses is a common method of altering decision-making behavior. In the experiment reported here, benchmark decision-making data collected in the 1970s by Tversky and Kahneman (1981, 1988) were compared with data collected from current samples of young and older adults to determine whether behavior was consistent across time. Although differences did emerge between the benchmark and the present samples, the effect of framing on decision behavior was relatively stable. The present findings suggest that adults of all ages are susceptible to framing effects. Results also indicated that apparent age differences might be better explained by an analysis of cohort and time-of-testing effects. Actual or potential applications of this research include an understanding of how framing might influence the decision-making behavior of people of all ages in a number of applied contexts, such as product warning interactions and medical decision scenarios.