Consequential decisions of older persons: a framework for study

Discusses a framework for integrating available knowledge and new information about decisionmaking processes of aged individuals making consequential life decisions. Some theoretical positions are reviewed and compared and it is argued that the decisionmaking classification system of Janis and Mann is particularly applicable to decisions of the elderly. Variables in that framework--namely, hope of an adequate solution and belief there is sufficient time to reach an adequate solution--could be profitably studied in relation to important decisions of elderly in areas such as housing or health utilization. The paper then describes a number of complicating issues in the study of decisionmaking of the elderly: (1) stressful circumstances under which important decisions are often made; (2) difficulty in isolating a single decision or separating it from earlier decisions; (3) difficulty in distinguishing empirically between a decision which leads to no change and an abrogation of decisionmaking; and (4) the large number of sociodemographic and attitudinal variables related to the decisionmaking process.