What Goes Down When Advice Goes Up: Younger Advisers Underestimate Their Impact

Abstract

Common wisdom suggests that older is wiser. Consequently, people rarely give advice to older individuals—even when they are relatively more expert—leading to missed learning opportunities. Across six studies (N = 3,445), we explore the psychology of advisers when they are younger (reverse advising), the same age (peer advising), or older (traditional advising) than their advisees. Study 1 shows that advisers avoid reverse-advising interactions because they perceive that their relative youth makes them less effective. However, when compared to advisees’ actual perceptions, reverse advisers are misguided, as they underestimate their effectiveness when giving general life advice (Study 2a–2b) as well as tactical advice (Studies 3–4). This misperception is in part driven by advisers’ beliefs about their own competence and others’ receptivity. Finally, we demonstrate an intervention that mitigates advisers’ misguided beliefs (Study 5). Contrary to advisers’ own perceptions and popular belief, these findings illustrate that being relatively young can also mean being an impactful adviser.