Do people disagree with themselves? Exploring the internal consistency of complex, unfamiliar, and risky decisions
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12598172 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Douglas L Bessette (0000-0001-7709-8518, Michigan State University, corresponding author), Robyn S Wilson (0000-0002-0092-9632, The Ohio State University), Joseph Arvai (0000-0002-6065-0705, University of Michigan), Joseph L Arvai (University of Michigan) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 593-605 |
| Publication date | 2019-02-11 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Risk Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1366-9877 • E-ISSN: 1466-4461 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13669877.2019.1569107 |
| OpenAlex | W2912649478 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 44 |
It is commonly accepted that people disagree with one another. In this article, we present results that suggest people may disagree with themselves. Using eight decision-making contexts ranging in familiarity, complexity, and risk, we show that a nationally representative sample (n = 1874) of respondents made choices that were inconsistent across two complimentary methods of eliciting preferences. We show that on average individuals demonstrate higher levels of internal consistency, or alignment between their choices and their stated values and concerns, when decisions are ‘easy’, or simple, familiar, and have little risk. However, this consistency declines when people are confronted with difficult choices involving unfamiliar, complex contexts involving high risk. Moreover, providing additional and salient contextual information about alternatives, such as brand names, model information, or the specific components of a risk mitigation strategy, results in significantly lower levels of consistency when compared to situations where this information is withheld. This finding suggests that people rely on simplifying heuristics when making easy decisions; however, this kind of information is less influential when choices are difficult. Importantly, we show that higher levels of education also have a significant and positive association with the consistency of people’s choices
Cognitive psychology · Consistency (knowledge bases · Developmental psychology · Heuristics · Internal consistency · Salient · Sample (material · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Computer Science · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics · Economic and Environmental Valuation · Psychology · Social Psychology · Artificial Intelligence
The Construction of Preference
Decisions with Multiple Objectives
Neural Correlates of Behavioral Preference for Culturally Familiar Drinks
Contingent Valuation
Behavioral Decision Research
Introspecting about Reasons can Reduce Post-Choice Satisfaction
Stated Preference Approaches for Measuring Passive Use Values
The affect heuristic
The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice
Risk as Analysis and Risk as Feelings
A Psychological Study of the Inverse Relationship Between Perceived Risk and Perceived Benefit
The magical number seven, plus or minus two
Value elicitation
The science on front-of-package food labels
Improving the contribution of climate model information to decision making
When Less is More
Why less is more
Expectations influence sensory experience in a wine tasting
The psychology of the unthinkable
A Note on the Pure Theory of Consumer's Behaviour
A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice
Preferences for Political Decision-Making Processes and Issue Publics
Pseudo-Opinions on Public Affairs
Self-reports
The construction of preference
Public Opinion and Public Opinion Polling
Risk as feelings
Theory of Games and Economic Behavior
| Citations per year | 0.57 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2019 - 2022 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |