Expressed Likelihood as Motivator: Creating Value through Engaging What's Real
E Tory Higgins1, Becca Franks, Dana Pavarini
1Columbia University, New York, NY 10027.
Journal of Economic Psychology
|August 14, 2013
Summary
How a future event
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Behavioral Economics
Background:
- Motivational effects of probability are influenced by how likelihood is expressed.
- Understanding how language framing impacts present engagement and value perception is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how the expression of probability (high vs. low likelihood language) affects engagement with present activities.
- To examine if expressed likelihood intensifies the value of present positive and negative stimuli.
Main Methods:
- Participants were presented with future events described using either high likelihood (e.g., "80% A") or low likelihood (e.g., "20% B") language.
- Engagement with a present activity and the perceived value of present objects were measured.
Main Results:
- High expressed likelihood, compared to low, increased the perceived reality and engagement of a present activity.
- Expressed likelihood intensified the value of positive and negative objects in opposite directions.
- These effects were independent of the actual probability or valence of the future event.
Conclusions:
- The language used to express probability significantly influences motivational outcomes.
- Framing future events with high likelihood language enhances present engagement and value perception, irrespective of objective probabilities.
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