The Cost of Coercion: Decision Utility as a Function of both Decision Procedures and Outcomes
Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: What do decision makers desire-attractive instrumental outcomes, as assumed in contemporary decision science, or decision procedures that support one's autonomy, as recently proposed by economic accounts of procedural utility?Based on prospect theory's reference-dependent model of outcome valuation, we propose the answer depends on what is at stake, instrumental losses or gains, and their distance from a behaviorally-significant reference point, such as the status quo.We present three experiments that map the tradeoff between desire for attractive decision outcomes and procedures.Participants recorded their satisfaction with hypothetical (Experiment 1) or actual (Experiments 2-3) monetary outcomes generated through decision procedures that either granted or denied individual decision-making autonomy.Participants were more satisfied with outcomes earned autonomously.However, the impact of autonomy-support was smaller for instrumental losses than for gains and was non-existent for losses that fell just below the status quo, barely missing this important benchmark.Experiment 3 additionally extended these results to actual choices.When forced to make a tradeoff between their decision-making autonomy and a monetary payoff, decision makers chose autonomy (chose a lesser-paying job) when only instrumental gains were at stake.But when only losses were involved, the preference for autonomy weakened; preference for autonomy disappeared when choosing a coercive job specifically secured the status quo and prevented even the slightest loss.These findings indicate that, contrary to traditional thinking, people care about both decision procedures and outcomes and that which concern receives greater weight during decision making depends on the behavioral significance of the outcomes involved.
Author: Daniel A. DeCaro
Institution: Miami University
Language: English
Subfield: General Decision Sciences
Field: Decision Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2248174634