Best Lab

Our research generally uses the goal orientation perspective as its theoretical foundation. As we age, we begin to experience an increased proportion of losses compared to gains. This results in our motivations shifting away from growth and towards maintenance and loss prevention.

Numeracy, the ability to effectively understand and use numbers and mathematical concepts, is associated with a wide range of positive health and financial outcomes. We study age differences in numeracy abilities and the factors may serve as buffers against normative decline.

Given our shifting motivation towards loss prevention as we age, we may expect older adults to take more risks if given the opportunity to prevent losses. But this hypothesis is not always supported in the literature. This raises the question if loss prevention goals are manifested in behavior that avoids or minimizes losses.

Theoretical models of technology adoption highlight the importance of perceived benefits and anticipated effort when making decisions to adopt novel technologies. We apply our work on aging and shifts goal orientation to investigate age differences in attitudes towards novel technologies such as eHealth and automated vehicles.