FEELING GOOD OR GETTING THE GIST: WHAT MOTIVATES AGE DIFFERENCES IN INFORMATION SEEKING?

Socioemotional Selectivity Theory suggests that older adults have a stronger relative preference for positive than negative information. In information seeking contexts, this has been studied using gist information (e.g., “very good”, “poor”). According to Fuzzy-Trace Theory, older adults favor relying on gist to relying on verbatim numbers when making decisions. So far, it has not been demonstrated whether the positivity effect can be replicated for verbatim information. In the present study, 70 younger and 70 older adults reviewed positive and negative information before making a medical and a non-medical decision. Information was either expressed as verbatim numbers or gist. As theorized, healthy older adults sought more gist than verbatim information, whereas younger adults sought similar amounts of information across conditions. Contrary to expectations, positivity in review did not differ as a function of age, health status, or information type but between decision domains. Implications for decision quality will be discussed.