Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: People often choose the option that is better on the most subjectively prominent attribute — the prominence effect. We studied the effect of prominence in health care priority setting and hypothesized that values related to health would trump values related to costs in treatment choices, even when individuals themselves evaluated different treatment options as equally good. We conducted pre-registered experiments with a diverse Swedish sample and a sample of international experts on priority setting in health care (n = 1348). Participants, acting in the role of policy makers, revealed their valuation for different medical treatments in hypothetical scenarios. Participants were systematically inconsistent between preferences expressed through evaluation in a matching task and preferences expressed through choice. In line with our hypothesis, a large proportion of participants (General population: 92%, Experts 84% of all choices) chose treatment options that were better on the health dimension (lower health risk) despite having previously expressed indifference between those options and others that were better on the cost dimension. Thus, we find strong evidence of a prominence effect in health-care priority setting. Our findings provide a psychological explanation for why opportunity costs (i.e., the value of choices not exercised) are neglected in health care priority setting.
Source: Judgment and Decision Making
Authors: Emil Persson, Arvid Erlandsson, Paul Slovic, Daniel Västfjäll, Gustav Tinghög
Institutions: Linköping University, University of Oregon, Decision Research
Language: English
Subfield: General Decision Sciences
Field: Decision Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,550
Awards: Understanding preferences in helping dilemmas: The prominence effect as an explanation for scope- and probability-neglect in life-saving situations., What is the effect of decision fatigue on healthcare workers’ medical judgment? Analysis and assessment of telephone triage (1177), antibiotics prescribing (primary care), and diagnosis of skin cancer, Replicability and Reducibility of heuristics and biases in Judgment and Decision Making (RR-JDM), G712881263
OpenAlex ID: W4313446705