Is loss aversion a domain general bias? On its extendibility in the food domain
Year: 2022
Type: preprint
Abstract: Loss aversion is a cognitive bias influencing decision making, according to which potential losses have a larger psychological impact than potential gains of equal magnitude. Even if this bias has been extensively studied in the monetary domain, recent work has challenged its very existence, especially in the context of small symmetric stakes. Moreover, it is still unclear whether loss aversion is at play in other incentive domains. In this study, we empirically assessed monetary loss aversion for small symmetric stakes, as well as the extendibility of this bias to another domain, namely the food domain. We recruited a group of 58 female participants, who played two comparable gambling tasks in which they had to accept or reject mixed gambles involving either monetary or food outcomes. Through computational modelling we estimated loss aversion parameters in both the monetary and the food tasks. We found that participants showed loss aversion both in the monetary and in the food domain. Importantly, loss aversion in the monetary and food domain was positively correlated across participants (Spearman’s rho = 0.48, [95%CI 0.21 – 0.70], p < 0.001). Together, these results provide support for the existence of loss aversion even in the context of small symmetric monetary stakes, and further show that this bias seem to extend to at least the food domain, suggesting that it may be considered as a domain-general bias.
Source: PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints)
Authors: anna fiorito, Jean-Claude Dreher, Philip Gorwood, Stéphanie Lefebvre, Xavier Caldú, Audrey Versini, Nicolas Ramoz, Guillaume Sescousse
Language: English
Subfield: General Decision Sciences
Field: Decision Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4309168692