Age-group differences in trust-related decision-making and learning

Abstract Facial impressions contribute to evaluations of trustworthiness. Older adults are especially vulnerable to trust violations, incurring risks for deception and exploitation. Using the newly developed social Iowa Gambling Task (S-IGT), we examined age-group differences in the impact of facial trustworthiness on decision-making and learning. In the congruent condition (CS-IGT), advantageous decks were paired with trustworthy faces and disadvantageous decks with untrustworthy faces. In the incongruent condition (IS-IGT), this pairing was reversed. Younger (n = 143) and older (n = 129) participants completed either the standard Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), CS-IGT, or IS-IGT. Both age groups preferred trustworthy faces in their initial choices. Older adults performed worse than younger adults across all tasks over time. Further, compared to younger adults, older adults performed worse on the IS-IGT, suggesting that incongruent facial cues interfered with older adults’ performance, which aligns with reduced sensitivity to negative social reputations in aging. Multilevel modeling also indicated that age-group differences were most pronounced across all tasks in the last 40 trials. Together these findings suggest that differences between younger and older adults in experience-dependent decision-making are magnified in social contexts that involve a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” which may reflect age-related difficulties in integrating incongruent information.