Interesting topic. As of late I have actually come to start most most games on the hard difficulty if there is an option to get a more challenging experience then normal. I would say that I manage that in most cases although sometime I have to switch to normal. Its funny though that difficulty is not discussed more often because it can really impact the experience you get.
I often just Google what difficulty to put the game on. There will often be a Reddit topic, and I've never been disappointed by the recommendations there yet. Normally I tend to go for a bit more difficult than the average player, but I often just don't have the time for highest difficulty.
I try do play on the hardest, otherwise on normal, depends a lot on the game. For shooters, I want the hardest experiencia, why? Not really sure.
I usually only play games on the easiest difficulty so I don't need to stress out throughout the course of the game. The only time I would try playing on a harder difficulty is if a trophy calls for it.
Depends on the genre for me, really. If it is a single player narrative focused game I have no interest in sweating it out, that is going down to the lowest difficulty so I can just enjoy it frustration free. Looters and ARPGs, however, are built around you creating an ever stronger build and constantly increasing the difficulty to see how far you can push a game, and I very much play them in that way, too.
Read more on pushsquare.com