Adult age differences in the integration of values for self and other

Are younger or older people more prosocial? This question has been subject to numerous studies, bringing about heterogenous results. 

To shed light on the cognitive and computational factors contributing to age-related differences, Lena Pollerhoff and colleagues in a collaboration between TUD, Würzburg University and Queen's University in Canada combined a value-based decision framework with Bayesian hierarchical drift-diffusion modeling. They found that a key difference between age groups lies in how subjects incorporate values for themselves and others into their decisions.

For more details check out the full publication here.

Pollerhoff, L., Saulin, A., Kurtz, M., Stietz, J., Peng, X. R., Hein, G., Tusche, A., Kanske, P., Li, S.-C. & Reiter, A. M. (2025). Adult age differences in the integration of values for self and other. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 12776.