Ambiguity attitudes in qualitative contexts

The role of prior beliefs

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12166702
AutoresJoshua P White (0000-0003-3129-5473, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences The University of Melbourne, Redmond Barry Building Parkville Victoria Australia, autor de correspondencia), Amy Perfors (0000-0002-6976-0732, The University of Melbourne), Andrew Perfors (Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences The University of Melbourne, Redmond Barry Building Parkville Victoria Australia)
Año2022
Volumen36
Número1
Fecha de publicación2022-06-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Behavioral Decision Making (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0894-3257 • E-ISSN: 1099-0771
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/bdm.2292
OpenAlexW4281609157
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas30

Most studies of ambiguity aversion rely on experimental paradigms involving monetary bets. Thus, the extent to which ambiguity aversion occurs outside of such contexts is much less understood, particularly when the situation cannot easily be reduced to numerical terms. The present work seeks to understand whether people prefer to avoid ambiguous decisions in a variety of different qualitative domains (e.g., work, family, love, friendship, exercise, study, and health), and, if so, to determine the role played by prior beliefs in those domains. Across three studies, we presented participants with 24 vignettes and measured the degree to which they preferred risk to ambiguity in each. We also asked them for their prior probability estimates about the likely outcomes in the ambiguous events. Ambiguity aversion was observed in the vast majority of vignettes, but at different magnitudes. It was predicted by whether the vignette involved gain or loss as well as by people's prior beliefs; however, the heterogeneity between people meant that the role of prior beliefs was only evident in an individual‐level analysis (i.e., not at the group level). Our results suggest that the desire to avoid ambiguity occurs in a wide variety of qualitative contexts but to different degrees for different people and may be partially driven by unfavorable prior estimates of the likely outcomes of the ambiguous events

Ambiguity · Ambiguity aversion · Cognitive psychology · Developmental psychology · Friendship · Qualitative research · Sociology · Variety (cybernetics · Vignette · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Computer Science · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology