How choice affects and reflects preferences

Revisiting the free-choice paradigm

Bibliographic Data

ID6206410
AuthorsM Keith Chen (0000-0002-3703-5990, Yale University), Jane L Risen (0000-0003-4879-1705, University of Chicago)
Year2010
Volume99
Issue4
Pages573-594
Publication date2010-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/a0020217
PMID20658837
OpenAlexW2058327853
LanguageEN
Citations received34
References cited24

After making a choice between 2 objects, people reevaluate their chosen item more positively and their rejected item more negatively (i.e., they spread the alternatives). Since Brehm's (1956) initial free-choice experiment, psychologists have interpreted the spreading of alternatives as evidence for choice-induced attitude change. It is widely assumed to occur because choosing creates cognitive dissonance, which is then reduced through rationalization. In this article, we express concern with this interpretation, noting that the free-choice paradigm (FCP) will produce spreading, even if people's attitudes remain unchanged. Specifically, if people's ratings/rankings are an imperfect measure of their preferences and their choices are at least partially guided by their preferences, then the FCP will measure spreading, even if people's preferences remain perfectly stable. We show this, first by proving a mathematical theorem that identifies a set of conditions under which the FCP will measure spreading, even absent attitude change. We then experimentally demonstrate that these conditions appear to hold and that the FCP measures a spread of alternatives, even when this spreading cannot have been caused by choice. We discuss how the problem we identify applies to the basic FCP paradigm as well as to all variants that examine moderators and mediators of spreading. The results suggest a reassessment of the free-choice paradigm and, perhaps, the conclusions that have been drawn from it

Cognition · Cognitive dissonance · Cognitive psychology · Economics · Imperfect · Interpretation (philosophy) · Microeconomics · Rationalization (economics) · Set (abstract data type) · Computer Science · Cultural Differences and Values · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology

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