Individual choice-induced preference chage in group settings

Publish Year: 1398
نوع سند: مقاله کنفرانسی
زبان: English
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NSCMED08_510

تاریخ نمایه سازی: 15 دی 1398

Abstract:

Background and Aim : In our intricate world today, many of our value-based decisions are made in groups rather than individually. Therefore, it is of high importance to see how social interactions in group decision making changes behavioral phenomena that have been already established in individual decision making. One such phenomenon is choice justification reflected in choice-induced preference change. Choice-induced preference change (CIPC) is when individuals change their existing preferences to align more closely with their prior decisions. Encountering two almost equally valued alternatives, individuals often upgrade the selected item and/or downgrade the rejected one. This phenomenon is explained by cognitive dissonance theory in social psychology: inconsistency between rejecting an item while liking it, or selecting an item while disliking it arouses an unpleasant feeling (dissonance). This tension in turn motivates individuals to justify their choices to retain consistency. Relatedness self-concept and thus feeling of commitment and responsibility is essential for dissonance arousal and the subsequent attitude change. It has been argued that making decisions together reduces the burden of responsibility. We hypothesize that when people make decisions together, they share the responsibility for it and thereby, the role of self-concept becomes less important and decision-related stress is reduced. Hence, if joint decision making reduces decision-related stress, then it will also reduce CIPC.Methods : Two experiments, individual and joint decision making, were run. In each experiment 44 participants, in pairs of the same sex, completed a modified free-choice paradigm. In the individual experiment, participants performed all the tasks independently but simultaneously. In the joint experiment, dyads were asked to jointly select a single item using a competing/comparative strategy; the joint choice would be the item for which more desire had been reported. However totally unbeknownst, in reality, they were interacting with pretend partners programmed by the computer. The experimental set-up was designed such that reciprocity and vicarious reward were controlled. Accordingly, depending on the relative positions of the individuals’ preferences in the decision process and in the final outcome, three social outcomes were generated: non-conflict, conflict-win and conflict-lose.Results : Pooling all social outcomes together, choice-induced preference change for dyadic decision makers was positive but weaker than for individual decision makers. This is consistent with reduced choice justification due to weaker sense of responsibility for the joint decisions. However, isolating different social outcomes of joint decision making showed that CIPC in joint decision makers was as much as it was in individual decision makers when the joint outcome was identical to one’s own preferred alternative (i.e. in non-conflict and conflict-win cases). Otherwise (i.e. in conflict-lose case), people had tendency to justify their own preferred alternative rather than the joint choice. Valence of the offers did not matter in the degree of choice-induced preference. Conclusion : Our findings showed that in joint decisions people might feel full commitment to their individually made decisions. Therefore, it is implied that diffusion of responsibility and less attitude change in joint decisions might not be guaranteed but rather depend on social setting.

Authors

Raheleh Shafaei

Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences

Farshad Fatemi

Graduate School of Management and Economics, Sharif University of Technology

Bahador Bahrami

Graduate School of Management and Economics, Sharif University of Technology