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Updated: May 30, 2026
13:04
Measuring the Subjective Value of Risky and Ambiguous Options using Experimental Economics and Functional MRI Methods
Published on: September 19, 2012
Ambiguous games: evidence for strategic ambiguity aversion
Briony D Pulford1, Andrew M Colman
1School of Psychology, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK. bdp5@le.ac.uk
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006)
|July 27, 2007
Summary
Participants preferred games with known risks over ambiguous ones, showing strategic ambiguity aversion. Knowing probabilities reduced this aversion, especially with delayed outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Decision Sciences
- Game Theory
- Behavioral Economics
Background:
- Ambiguity in strategic-form games poses challenges for rational decision-making.
- Understanding how players navigate uncertainty is crucial in game theory.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and analyze a class of ambiguous games.
- To investigate strategic ambiguity aversion in human participants.
- To examine factors influencing ambiguity aversion, such as probability knowledge and outcome delay.
Main Methods:
- 195 participants played strategic-form games of varying sizes against unidentified co-players.
- Participants chose between known-risk games and equivalent ambiguous games.
- Experimental conditions manipulated knowledge of co-player type probabilities and outcome timing (immediate vs. delayed).
Main Results:
- A significant strategic ambiguity aversion effect was observed, with known-risk games generally preferred.
- When outcome probabilities were known, ambiguity aversion decreased, particularly under delayed feedback conditions.
- Decision confidence was higher in smaller (2x2) games compared to larger games.
Conclusions:
- Players exhibit a general aversion to strategic ambiguity in games.
- Informed knowledge of outcome probabilities can mitigate ambiguity aversion.
- Game size impacts decision confidence, with smaller games fostering greater certainty.
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