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Self-Affirmation Reduces Uncertainty Aversion for Potential Gains.

Joshua A Weller1, Jared Vineyard2, William M P Klein3

  • 1Centre for Decision Research, University of Leeds, United Kingdom.

Journal of Applied Social Psychology
|August 8, 2022
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Self-affirmation reduces uncertainty aversion for potential gains but not losses. However, this can lead to less advantageous choices in risky decision-making scenarios.

Keywords:
AmbiguityDecision MakingRiskSelf-Affirmation

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral economics
  • Psychology
  • Decision science

Background:

  • Health decisions often involve uncertain outcomes, leading to aversion.
  • Self-affirmation may buffer against threats and reduce this aversion.
  • Its impact on decision-making under uncertainty requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the effect of self-affirmation on risk and ambiguity preferences.
  • To examine these effects for both potential gains and losses.
  • To understand the implications for behavioral decision-making.

Main Methods:

  • Two studies were conducted, manipulating self-affirmation.
  • Study 1 focused on risk preferences, Study 2 on ambiguity preferences.
  • Participants made choices involving potential gains and losses.

Main Results:

  • Self-affirmed individuals showed greater acceptance of uncertainty for potential gains, but not losses.
  • For risky decisions, self-affirmation led to choices less aligned with expected value.
  • This suggests self-affirmed individuals made more disadvantageous choices.

Conclusions:

  • Self-affirmation can increase tolerance for uncertainty in gain-seeking decisions.
  • However, this may come at the cost of making suboptimal choices.
  • Findings highlight the complex role of self-affirmation in risky choice.