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When (and why) absolute decision attribute values influence human preferences.

Joseph Teal1, Petko Kusev1, Rose Martin1

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Human decision-making for risky choices relies on absolute monetary values when prizes are desirable. Preferences shift to relative value ranks when outcomes are less appealing, influencing risky gamble choices.

Keywords:
Absolute valuesChoice preferenceDecision by samplingDecision-making desirabilityRisk

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Behavioral Economics
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Relative rank models propose decision-making relies on sampled attribute values and their ranks.
  • This suggests absolute values are less important than their rank within a set.
  • Previous models did not fully account for the impact of absolute value desirability.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether human preferences in risky decision-making are driven by absolute attribute values or their relative ranks.
  • To determine the conditions under which decision-makers switch between absolute and relative value judgments.
  • To test the hypothesis that desirability of outcomes influences the use of absolute values.

Main Methods:

  • Conducted studies with over 1100 UK adults evaluating economic gambles.
  • Manipulated the desirability of monetary prizes associated with safe and risky gambles.
  • Analyzed choices based on absolute prize values and the distribution/rank of sampled values.

Main Results:

  • Participants favored risky gambles with desirable high monetary prizes (£150) irrespective of relative ranks.
  • When prizes were non-desirable (£0.50 or £1.50), preferences were influenced by the distribution and relative ranks of sampled monetary values.
  • A shift from absolute to relative judgment was observed based on prize desirability.

Conclusions:

  • Human decision-making in risky contexts can be guided by absolute values, particularly when outcomes are desirable.
  • The desirability of a monetary prize acts as a trigger for using absolute value judgments.
  • Decision-making processes dynamically switch between absolute and relative judgments based on context and outcome desirability.